








W^ 






i 









^N.M v^ 



-kU v -^v.;.« 



SSSKMf 



rOfl'Anhn 



WaW 






A /S A A ^ 






»f«ft 



/A-'flOftWWK 



SMS^M 



ks«m 



1 1'„' 



3&J9AAA 



^^p 



AAaA 






WaWWa 



^AaHa 



:^p 



Mmk 



MiLIBRARY OF CONGRESS J 

# # 

f [SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT.] | 

J Aik : 

! UNITED STATES OF AMERICA t\ 



AAA* 



AaA'Aa 






sssffliWIIJIil 



, - ^ ' : ^»^>,««nA%^2f f 






a A a A 



«m 



Itefiiiiiiii IS 



■ft^t 






■Ah.aaAA 



«»££*.** 



^mA.A^a 





i 


M 


m 



A*M< 



. 



mm 



i^liilSlliiwlilA 



u 



rm&WA 












A'^illflCM 



Mi 



Aa.A ! 4flk1 



ri^nAplMMliSIl 



<f\ A < * a 



ffi.p 



llii 



t k;m« 


1! 


/«ii tiajaIaIaI 


1 





m 



mm 



■ m* 



liiliilii^llllii 



%mmfimmmm 



"imwm 



AMmmlm0^* 



WMfl 






jS'AAa-AaA 



:^av aa 



•zJ 



THE 




<r* 



/ 



PRBSTOEMTCT 



OF TflE 



7* '-^»»'»«' 






*0 



% 






.-* 



^ 



A. B. WOODWASS. 






SECOND EDITION. 



FREDERICK- TO WW. 



fttlNTED BY J, P. THOMSON, FOR TIMOTHY TAYLOR. 

t826. 






* » •■ s-c.V >; v . H*,\ Y*^\ «v" ' > -J 







s 



V. I\\^.A" 



District of Columbfaf.te wit : *, , 

Be it hemembered, That on the twenty-first day of May, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty five, and of the Independ- 
ence of the United States of America, the forty-ninth, Levi S. Burr, of the 
said district, hath deposited in the office of the Clerk of the District Court, 
for the District of Columbia, the title of a book, the right whereof he claims 
as proprietor, in the following words, to wit : 

" The Presidency of the United States. By A. B. Woodward;" 
In conformity to the act^of the Cjg^uessSof the. United States, entitled, 
" An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of 
Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies dur- 
ing the times therein mentioned.".^ And jalso to the Act., entitled, " An Act 
supplementary to an Act, entitled^*' An ActYorVheVfi&mragemenr of Learn- 
ing* by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and 
proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,' *nd extend- 
ing the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching his- 
torical and other prints." 

»vw* JJY TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my 

I x.s. \ hand, and affixed the public seal of my office, the day and 

♦ v-v** year aforesaid 

EDM. I. LEE, 
Cleric of the District Court for the District of Columbia. 




CONTENTS. 



THE first President— The Confederation— General Hamilton — 
Organization of the federal administration—- Haimony prevails — The 
institution of the cabinet system — Exclusion of the Vice-President — 
Causes of parties — Germ of the first parties — The French Revolu- 
tion — Parties become embittered — Die moral source of dissentions — 
Intrigue defined— Thomas Jefferson— Opposite views of Mr. Jeffer- 
son and General Hamilton— Mr. Jefferson insidiously assailed — The 
administration dissolved — A ne* cabinet— illusions of foreign minis- 
ters — Gradually dissipated— Occasional a r rogance — Mr. Fouchet— 
Implicates Mr. Randolph — His dispatches intercepted — Mr. Ran- 
dolph supplanted — Vindicates himself — His vindication reveals the 
unconstitutional operat on of the cabinet system— A new cabinet form- 
ed, from which the so th is excluded — Assails Mr. Munroe — His 
transactions in France — Vigour of American diplomacy — Giddiness 
of the French people— Mr Monroe falls under the cabinet — Mr. 
Adams — is elected the second president—Is fettered by the cabinet- 
Bursts the fetters — The case, of Ft ies— Contrasted with that of the 
Earl of Straffoid — Extraordinary confession of the Britannic King— r 
The cabinet endeavor to force the President into a war— The Presi- 
dent breaks the cabinet — Triumph of the cabinet over the President— 
The third P;esident — Supposed to be adverse to the construction of 
the office— But gives it a firm practical support— The cabinet system 
nearly expires— But is revived and continued — Evils of the cabinet 
system — Difficulty in selecting the successor of a president— Contests 
of the heads of departments for the succession— Exclusion of the pre- 
tensions of others— Perversion of official patronage — Ungenerous op- 
position—The election of President the sport of contingency— Evils 
of an election by the House of Representatives — Evils of sporatic 
elections — A secreta- yship to the Presidency wanted — The unjust 
disfranchisement of the metropolis— The corruption of the Legisla- 
ture — Legislator under executive influence — Legislator attempting 
to controul the executive — Legislative bargaining — Executive infrac- 
tion of the constitution— Household establishment of the President 
under the confederation — Amendment of the constitution necessary- 
Executive power to institute commissions of investigation desirable— 
The etiquette of the Presidential office requires reform — Presidential 
contests endanger the Union — The office of Vice President requires 
reform — Incongruities of qualification to advise — An appropriate de- 
partment for interior concerns— Neglect of subordinate concerns—. 
Impossibility of independent counsel — Fatal unconstitutionality of 
the cabinet system—-'! he Remedies adverted to. 



©sr ^sna'iPMsaiDfflEr©^ 



OF THE 



UB?IT!BJD STATES. 



ADDRESSED TO THE INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN. 



THE selection of the first President of the United 
States of America was peculiarly happy. 

Tirtuous, wise, accomplished, great in the field, great 
in council, enjoying high renown and universal respect 
and attachment. Washington has, not only, given im- 
mortality to his name ; but has conferred permanent be- 
nefits on his country, and on mankind. History will de- 
light to dwell on the qualities of this estimable man ; and 
the youthful mind, in all succeeding ages, will refer to him 
as a model of what is good, and what is grand, in the 
character of a human being. 

Habits of circumspection, thoughtfulness, and delibera- 
tion, a serene temper, a sound judgment, a deportment 
marked with candour and sincerity, an undeviating pro- 
bity, an assiduous industry, a love of and an attention to, 
good counsel, and a firmness of resolution united with a 
benevolence of heart, qualified him, not only, to repulse 
the power and the tyranny of Britain, and the pride, in- 
solence, and corruption of France ; but, eminently, to ad- 
vance the domestic welfare of the interesting and amia- 
ble family of citizens, composing the North American 
republic. 

It does not appear, from the correspondence of General 
Washington, that any very definite plan of administra- 
tion was settled; anterior to the counting of the votes for 



the Presidency. A veteran of the revolution was the 
messenger of the result ; nor does it appear that, on the 
journey from Mount Vernon to New- York, he was ac- 
companied by any confidential adviser. On his arrival, 
however, at New- York, he found himself in the bosom of 
old and tried friends ; some remaining in the functions of 
the old government, and many returned, from all quarters 
of the Union, to the two houses that composed the first 
illustrious federal Congress. Some, even, were congre- 
gated, who were in private capacities. 

At the head of the old government stood Cyrus Grif- 
fin, who had been elected £ resident of Congress on the 
twelfth day of July, 1788. 

John Jay was officiating in the Department of Foreign 
Affairs, and delivered one of the early messages of the, 
President of the United States to Congress. 

The Department of Finance was in commission ; and 
"VI alter Livingston, Samuel Osgood, and Arthur 
Lee, were the incumbents. 

In this government, some attention will, perhaps, long 
be applied to a sort of geographical equity in the distribu- 
tion of the honours and of the emoluments of the nation. 
Cert in it is, that this principle had not been disregarded 
in the construction of the Board of Finance, under the 
confederation. Osgood was selected from the Eastern, 
Livingston from the ^Middle, and Lee from the Southern, 
States. 

Henry Knox was at the head of the Department of 
War. 

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were our Foreign 
Ministers, at the courts of Great Britain and France, re- 
spectively, under the confederation, but the former, elected 
the first Vice-President under the new form of govern- 
ment, was now in America, and at his post. 

Charles Thompson was the Secretary of Congress, 
William Duer Secretary of the Board of Treasury, and 
Joseph Nourse, Register of that Department. 

Alexander Hamilton, who had distinguished him- 
self at the dawn of the revolution, as an efficient advocate 
of American rights; who had borne arms in their defence; 



who had acted, for four years, in the military family of 
General Washington, with an increase of distinction and 
renown ; who achieved a brilliant military exploit at the, 
capture of Lord Cornwallis ; whose fame, as an orator in 
Congress, in the grand convention of 1787, and in the 
state convention of New York, was of the first lustre ; and 
Who had, recently, proved himself one of the most pro- 
found and able writers of the western hemisphere, in the 
composition of the Federalist ; on whom all eyes were di- 
rected ; and whose career of glory, it was obvious to all, 
was not yet closed; was now again at the side of his illus- 
trious friend. Near him, also, were George Clinton^ 
Aaron Burr, and Elbridge Gerry, subsequent Vice-Presi* 
dents, and James Madison, a subsequent President, of the 
United States ; and many other distinguished characters 
of the revolution. 

In these interesting circumstances, Washington organiz- 
ed his administration. All was quiet and all was peace. 

The battle between the Federalists and the Anti-feder- 
alists had been fought, and the victory acquiesced in. — ■ 
Feuds, dissensions, and virulent party- spirit had, yet, to 
receive their new birth. 

It required the characteristic prudence and discrimina- 
tion of Washington, from these splendid materials, to con- 
struct his ministry ; and to give impetus to the new con- 
stitution. 

Although the third day of March 1789, was assigned 
for the termination of the government under the confeder- 
ation, it yet continued in partial operation for a period of 
five months longer. The true date of the expiration of 
the government of the confederation, is the third day of 
August 1789. 

In the British government, the fiscal concerns of the na- 
tion engross such paramount attention, that the head of 
that department is regarded as the Prime Minister. 

President Washington selected Colonel Hamilton as 
the head of the Financial Department, in the new Ameri- 
can administration. The Department of Foreign Affairs, 
temporarily revived in the new government, was converted 
into the Department of State : and Mr. Jefferson was cal 



led to its functions. General Knox was appointed Secre- 
tary of War, and Edmund Randolph Attorney General. 

Of the officers of the former government, three only, in 
addition to such as have been already named, are recol- 
lected to have received immediate appointments in the new 
administration. Mr. Jay was made Chief Justice of the 
United States, Colonel Duer under Secretary of the Trea- 
sury, an office since extinct, and Mr. Nourse Register of 
the Treasury. The latter gentleman received his origi- 
nal appointment to that office in the year 1781, and re- 
mains in it to the present day, the last of the civil officers 
of the revolution ; and a monument of integrity, industry, 
and courtesy. 

It would be foreign to the present purpose to descant 
on the abilities displayed by the three first chiefs of the 
Departments. They are generally koown and are already 
embodied in history. The fiscal arrangements soon pro- 
duced order from chaos, gave vitality and stability to pub* 
lie credit, and elicited a train of happy results, the benefits 
of which are sensibly experienced even at this existing 
hour; nor is the epoch near when their force will be ex- 
pended. Such is the stamps which, under the direction 
of Divine Providence, capacity and genius impress on the 
destiny of nations. 

The eye of the scrutinizing observer, anxious to discern 
the causes of the personal dissentions, and exasperated 
party-spirit, which afterwards embarrassed, and in a cer- 
tain degree deformed, the administration of our public af- 
fairs, will, perhaps, be directed to the inquiry, whether 
these new arrangements produced any dissatisfaction ; 
whether any latent heart burnings existed with those, who, 
being in employment under the old government, were su- 
perseded in the succeeding; and in what degree these 
may have contributed to give origin to new parties. 

A satisfactory answer may, probably, be given to this 
inquiry. No dissatisfaction and no heart burnings affecting 
the publick interests, were excited. A slight sensibili- 
ty might have been experienced by the Secretary of the 
Revolutionary Congress, at not being nominated to th<& 



Department of Foreign Affairs, or to that of State ; but if 
this existed, in any degree, it was transient, it soon subsided, 
and it was all. The former President of Congress was 
soon appointed to a respectable station in his native state, 
and the Commissioners of the Treasury elicited not a mur- 
mur. 

The mind of General Washington was so constituted as 
to delight in, and to require, consultation. In the construc- 
tion of the government, no constitutional advisers had been 
assigned to the President. A dignified body was invested 
With a negative voice on his selections ; but a daily, hourly, 
oral, confidential, and perfectly free, counsel was not expect- 
ed from that body ; nor were they in a situation to impart it. 

On the contrary, it soon grew into n practice, with Presi- 
dent Washington, to assemble the Heads of Departments, 
and the Attorney-General ; and to consult with them, thus 
embodied, orally and freely, on all his measures. This 
body, entirely unknown to the Constitution, gradually ac- 
quired, and still retains, the appellation of the Cabinet. 
The Constitution only authorises the President to require 
the opinion, in writing, of the Head of a Department, on 
a matter falling within his Department. It was afterwards 
announced, on an occasion, that will presently be more 
particularly adverted to by a Secretary of State, and a mem- 
ber of the Cabinet, that the first President generally relin- 
quished his personal opinion in favor of that of a majority of 
his Cabinet ; nor is it believed but that this case has occur- 
red to more, if not to all, of the Presidents. 

From this Cabinet, it has been the uniform course to ex- 
clude the Vice-President. Perhaps his constitutional func- 
tion of being prolocutor of the Senate was deemed incompa- 
tible with his being a member of the Cabinet. His attend- 
ance would frequently be inconvenient, and his possessing 
a voice in the deliberations of the Senate might render it 
indelicate. That any dissatisfaction arose from this course 
being pursued, either at the time of its adoption, or subse- 
quently, has never been manifested. The demise of the 
incumbent has never occurred in relation to the office of Pre- 
sident, nor even an indisposition so severe as to prevent the 
exercise of his function. If a Vice-President should be 
B 



10 

suddenly called to mature measures, on which he had n«/ 
previous opportunity to exercise his judgment; or if, after 
having originated measures of an interesting character, he 
should he suddenly called to relinquish prosecution of them ; 
a divergence from harmonious administration might result. 

The Cabinet, thus for the first time known in the admi- 
nistration of American government, moved forward with 
great smoothness and energy for a considerable period after 
its institution. The Presidency, as an office, or power, was 
Indeed, essentially, though, in some degree, imperceptibly, 
chai'g; t] from what the Constitution had made it, but the 
practical improvement was at once, so great and so obvious, 
as to command silent acquiescence. 

Parties arise, in free states, from the inculcation of new 
principles ; or of a different practical application of those 
already known. They constantly attend thinking and in- 
telligent communities ; and are as diversified in their grades, 
as they are various in complecticu. They originally com- 
mence in an honest difference of opinion ; and, so far, they 
are u tful. But time, protracted labours, continual con- 
tentions, alternate successes and disappointments, and a 
combination of all the interests, and of all the passions, that 
actuate the human heart, eventually alter their character : 
and what was, at first, an honourable, aud an useful party, 
at length becomes a dishonourable, and a pernicious fac- 
tion. 

When parties have been actually formed, in a free state, 
it is not to be expected but that they will reach the bosom 
of the executive family. 

The germ of the political parties, which were destined 
soon to agitate the administration and people of the United 
States, was found iu an honest difference of opinion between 
two intimate friends. They now stood in different rela- 
tions, and under different responsibilities ; the one, a mem- 
ber of the Cabinet, and conducting the fiscal administration, 
the other, a member of the Mouse of llepresentatives, and 
eminent in virtue and talent. The question involved, not 
only, an important point of policy, but a very nice point of 
moral rectitude. 



11 

Colonel Hamilton thought that the national faith im- 
periously required thai the publick creditors should he fair- 
ly paid the full amount of the debts, of which they held 
evidences. 
Mr. Madison thought that, considering the enormous 
profit made by the existing holders of those evidences, and 
the deplorable sacrifices made by the original holders, such 
a d nation should be made as would enable botli to 

participate in the advantage arising from the restoration of 
the public credit. This profit, or sacrifice, amounted, in 
some instances, to no less than seven hundred per cent. 

Some new questions soon arose to widen the divergency 
of opinion, and of action ; and to impress more definite cha- 
racters of party. It was proposed that the general govern- 
ment should assume upon itself certain debt, incurred by 
the individual states in the prosecution of the war of the 
revolution. The selection of a permanent seat of national 
government was a constitutional dutv. The institution of a 
national bank was much desired, and involved a severe 
scrutiny into the construction of the constitution itself. 

In the progress of the divisions, which the agitation of 
these questions produced, in the legislative councils, and 
among intelligent citizens, it was, ere long, discovered that 
the Cabinet itself was also divided. President Washing- 
ton : of whose life it had already been one of the most 
painful tasks to adjust delicate pretensions, and to repress 
incipient dissentiou ; still held the balance, with a steady 
hand, and possessed the unabated confidence of the nation. 
An important event was, however, in the womb of time, 
and just about to receive its birth ; which while, on the one 
hand, it was to operate strange changes in the affairs of 
European nations, on the other, was to compel the Ameri- 
can President to take a decided stand, and to controul the 
conflicting opinions of his Cabinet. This was the subver- 
sion of the ancient French monarchy ; and the conversion 
of a nation, gallant and polite, but fickle aud sanguiuary, 
into a republic. 

The consequences of the American and French revolu- 
tions, their connections with the future destinies of mankind, 
are too grand and important to admit of any compressing. 



12 

It will be sufficient to remark, that the American federal 
government, and the French revolution, were coeval in 
their commencement ; the former being organized between 
the fourth days of March and August, 1789, and the latter 
dating from the fourteenth day of July, in the same year. 
The French revolution has had its commencement, and its 
termination ; but the American federal government still 
stands, the admiration, and the hope of the world. 

It was after the execution of the king, and on the pre- 
sentation of the new ilag of the French republic to the Unit- 
ed States, that the American President was obliged to rely 
on his sole and unbiassed judgment. A portion of his ad- 
visers hoped he would decline the acceptance of the emblem. 
Another portion deprecated that course. President Wash- 
ington not only determined to receive the flag, and thereby, 
effectually, to acknowledge the French republic ; but ac- 
companied the act with the most eloquent and impassioned, 
address that characterised his whole life. He was ever af- 
terward claimed by, and recognized as belonging to, the 
party which acquired the appellation of the Democratic 
or Republican. Sensible, however, that the mind of the 
President was elevated above subserviency to any party, 
that which acquired the denomination of Federal, did not 
regard him as estranged from them. 

Never, in the? concerns of government, has there been ma- 
nifested a degree of dementation so extravagant, silly, and 
sanguinary, as that which distinguished the so called, re- 
publicans of France. The human mind shudders at the 
horrors of the retrospect. It can, however, be only here 
observed, that the fondest hopes of the American people 
were deceived. Instead of finding a respectable and pow- 
erful auxiliary, to the principles of republicanism, in the 
people of France, the American people were left to sustain 
the great cause alone. 

During the hostilities, that soon broke out, and long con- 
tinued to rage, between France and Great Britain, two 
counter- tides of party rolled in the United States; con- 
stantly varying their fluctuations, and, at one time, embar- 
rassing their administration, and ? at another, distracting 
their people 



13 

Two domestic events were now to succeed ; of which, 
both were calculated, not only to separate parties still fur- 
ther, but, what was much more to be regretted, to impart 
to them a spirit of bitterness. These were the rise and con- 
tinuance of personal dissentions in the Cabinet, and the se- 
lection of a successor to the first President 

The source of all dissentions lies in a departure, some- 
where, from moral propriety. It is a matter of more con- 
sequence, therefore, than it might, at first view, appear, to 
examine ; even in controversies little, otherwise, interest- 
ing, but, more especially, in those which embroil communi- 
ties and nations ; where the original fault lies. This being 
truly ascertained, and generally known, controversy is like- 
ly to terminate. Nor is this task easy. In all controver- 
sies, both parties are apt to be much in the wrong ; and 
when Mends embark, the malignity of the moral ulcer is 
increased, and the deviations from rectitude of conduct be- 
come both more numerous and more important, with the 
adherents to the respective causes, than with the original 
parties themselves. It is rare that, in any controversy, 
right is, entirely, on one side. It is rare, if the parties to 
the original controversy should even conduct themselves 
towards each other with the most nice decorum, that their 
friends observe the same delicacy. It is rare also, in poli- 
tical controversies, and it thus infinitely augments the diffi- 
culty of settling their merits, that many virtues, talents, and 
fine qualities, are not found on both sides ; and as well 
with the original parties as with their respective adherents. 
Without, however, the departure from moral rectitude, 
which has been alluded to, parties are not apt to continue 
long ; nor to acquire great acerbity. Simple difference of 
sentiment, the result of enlightened and rational investiga- 
tion, not only increases the respect and esteem of the origi- 
nal parties for each other, but both are even covered with 
the mantle of public applause.. ^ 

In political concerns, intrigue, in its very worst and 
most aggravated sense, may be defined to be a combination 
of bad men, to effect bad purposes, by the use of bad means. 
It admits of every gradation, from this exacerbated stage, 



14 

down to the confines of simple innocence ; and approximates 
the latter, when it deviates from the line of open and candid 
virtue, only, by the circumstance of its measures and move- 
ments being veiled by secrecy and concealment. The latter 
quality alone, that of secrecy, is generally sufficient to cha- 
racterise intrigue; but w r hen to this are added corrupt 
views, acute cunning, and desperate passions, the safety of 
men, and even of nations, becomes involved. Few gov- 
ernments are without intrigues ; nor can republican gov-' 
eminent claim an exemption. 

The mind of Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Secretary 
of State, under the Washington administration, and thus 
a prominent member of the Washington Cabinet, was of 
the first order. He may be regarded as the father of mo- 
dern republicanism. He framed the Declaration of Ame- 
rican Independence, and was the author of the first written 
Constitution known to the world. His republican princi- 
ples were imbibed from the fountains of antiquity. These 
were corrected, and improved-by an intimate knowledge of 
the nature and foundations of English liberty. The politi- 
cal rights of British subjects, and the admirable system of 
English jurisprudence, were familiar to him. He was an 
accomplished scholar in the ancient, and in the modern 
languages. In mathematical and natural philosophy, he 
was profound. He was skilled in many of the arts. His 
integrity had the solidity of adamant, and his manners its 
polish. His pen was early exercised in defence of Ameri- 
can rights ; and he was distinguished for a style rich, ori- 
ginal, and energetic. In official capacities, his application 
was as severe, as his talents were high; and the strength 
of European diplomacy, whether nurtured in the school of 
Britain, or of France, withered in his grasp. His Eights 
of British America, his Charter of her Independence, his 
Notes on Virginia, his Report on Measures and Weights, 
those on the Fisheries and Commerce, his correspondence 
with Hammond and with (tenet, his Memoir on the Me- 
galonyx, his Inaugural Address, and a variety of other 
brilliant productions, remain monuments of his splendid 



15 

abilities ; and constitute treasures precious to history, and 
to science. 

The common child of their labours, their perils, and 
their cares, the cause of American freedom, was perhaps, 
alike, dear to Jefferson and to Hamilton ; but they took 
opposite views of the dangers by which it was to be assail- 
ed. The one dreaded the degeneracy of American institu- 
tions iuto monarchy and aristocracy, forms of human gov- 
ernment which the enlightened world had sufficient expe- 
rience to discard ; while the apprehensions of the other 
dwelt on prospects of anarchy, relaxation of authority, dis- 
solution of order, and irretrievable confusion. It is not im- 
probable that both magnified the dangers, on the sides from 
which they, respectively, viewed them ; and, while the ex- 
cess of their apprehensions for the existence of freedom may 
be regarded as a proof of the zeal and sincerity of their at- 
tachment, it may also have, essentially and reciprocally, 
contributed to its preservation. 

Thus far the contest was honorable, and the distinction 
of parties useful. 

But minds, inferior in elevation and dignity to those who 
guided the destinie« of the infant and interesting republic, 
and were cherishing the hopes of future millions, were 
suffered to intermingle ; and intrigues arose, which the 
eye of history has not yet penetrated, destructive to the 
harmony of the administration, and invading the peace of 
Washington. 

Anonymous and secret communications were addressed 
to the latter, derogatory to Mr. Jefferson. An explana- 
tion was asked and given. This explanation darted a 
ray of light on the transactions; and the bosom of the vir- 
tuous and amiable President was filled with painful anxi- 
ety. Mr. Jefferson generously determined to obviate all 
embarrassments, and retired from the administration ; and 
Colonel Hamilton soon afterwards adopted the same de- 
termination, but was anticipated by General Knox, in its 
execution. 

In the mean time, the correctness of a sentiment, confi- 
dentially communicated to his government by Mr. Jeffer- 
s©n, while Minister to France, was assailed from the press, 



16 

and defended by Colonel Monroe ; then a Senator from 
Virginia, and now the American President. 

Thus expired the harmony of the Cabinet. The evils 
of the system had begun to manifest themselves ; and were 
soon to be developed with an irresistible and overwhelm- 
ing force of conviction. 

Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, the Attorney- General 
of the United States, was raised to the Secretaryship of 
State; and Oliver Wolcott, of Connecticut, Comptrol- 
ler in the Financial Department, to that of the Treasury. 
In the interval Timothy Pickering, of Massachusetts, 
Postmaster- General of the United States, was appointed 
Secretary of War, and Mr. Bradford, of Pennsylvania, 
Attorney- General. Mr. Randolph was thus, though his 
capacity had been changed; the only remnant of the old 
Cabinet ; but was destined soon to fall a victim to its dis- 
sentions. 

It is not to be regarded as a matter of surprise, that for- 
eign Ministers, arriving in the United States, should form 
misconceptions, both of the government, and the people. 
Accustomed to a greater or less degree of splendour and 
parade in gov-jvnmeut of every kind, and more particularly 
to a portion of military parade, they behold, with infinite 
astonishment, a great people, among whom, from the Pre- 
sident of the United States to the Governors of the indivi- 
dual States, and from them through all the grades and ra- 
mifications of office, not a single external symbol is exhi- 
bited of their dignities or authorities ; nor is a soldier to be 
seen. Informed that it is a popular government, they be- 
hold neither mob, nor tumult, nor noise, nor crowd ; but 
find every man, public and private, pursuing his avoca- 
tions, in solitary quiet. They have heard, and they have 
read, and perhaps with admiration, of the Liberty of the 
Press ; but, in beholding what this liberty actually is, 
they were not prepared to find, that every man in a repub- 
lican government, in any public station, low or high, or 
having any pretensions to it, is, if his opponents are to be 
exclusively belie veil, not merely a signal dishonour to his 
particular country, but to the species itself. It remains a 



i? , 

Mystery to them ; notwithstanding they see the Actual ope-" 
ration of those happy ventilators of the public passions, to 
which the Liberty of the Press gives birth ; how the po- 
pular mind is so coo), so tranquil, so dispassionate, so equi- 
table and correct in its judgments. They know that, with 
this people, elections must be both numerous and frequent ; 
but they have been told that the Americans are somewhat 
of a more literary and intelligent community, and cannot 
readily believe that, from one end of their country to ths 
other, there is but one, to them a tedious and uninteresting 
topic of conversation, the next election. Elections them- 
selves, they have also heard of, or beheld ; and they asso- 
ciate with them frightful ideas of turbulence, violence^ and 
confusion. 

The residence of foreign Ministers, a few years, in the 
United States, gradually dissipates these illusions. A 
foreign Minister, from the North of Europe, who had been 
sometime in the United States, was met, at Philadelphia^ 
by another, from the same quarter, his friend, who had re- 
cently arrived ; and who had been at Washington, without 
seeing there President or Vice-President, Senator or Re- 
presentative, Ministers domestic or foreign, or troops any 
where ; and was accosted with an interrogation of the fol- 
lowing nature. " In what sort of a country am I, and 
where is the government ; for, on my part, I can see no 
government whatever V To this his friend made the fol- 
lowing remarkable reply * "This is a government which 
can be neither seen, nor felt ; and, yet, it is the strongest 
government on earth." Foreign Ministers, of a sober and 
reflecting cast, frequently leave the United States with im- 
pressions, respecting republicanism, very different from 
those with which they came. When, in fact, they see the 
two Houses of Congress in actual session, and the assiduity 
with which their members, and the executive departments, 
devote themselves to the public business ; when they ad- 
vert to the Governors and Legislatures of the twenty* four 
States equally engaged, independently of the innumerable 
administrations of counties, cities, and towns ; when they 
view the various tribunals of justice, inconstant occupation; 
C 



is 

when they behold the dense population of the east, brist- 
ling in military array, at the militia musters, and the forest, 
around a solitary court bouse, in the south and west, pour- 
ing forth well armed battalion upon battalion ; when they 
visit a military academy, a garrison, or a seventy-four gun 
ship, and observe the intelligence, the strength, and the 
discipline, they display ; when they reflect on the magni- 
tude, and the regularity, of the revenues, and the extent and 
activity of the commerce, restricted only by the limits of 
the globe; when they consider the immense regions which 
the posts traverse, and with what speed ; the multiplicity 
of the Gazettes, and with what avidity they are perused; 
and when, finally, they look at the precise and orderly sys- 
tem, with which, the elections are conducted, that give rise 
to all this animation, and afford all this protection ; they 
are indeed struck with an awful sense of what this nation 
is, with a conviction of where its strength and energies lie, 
and feel that it is a government both to be admired and re- 
vered. 

Sometimes foreign Ministers arrive, inflated with arro- 
gance and presumption ; and entertaining views, the most 
crude and incorrect, of the character of the government, and 
of the people of the United States. The two first Minis- 
ters of the French Republic, a British Consul, and after 
wards a British Ambassador, gave considerable trouble to 
the x^merican Administration. The two latter were dis- 
missed ; and of the two former, the recall of the first was 
asked for on the part of the American President, and ac- 
corded by the rulers of France. The acts of his successor 
involved the standing of Mr. Randolph, and again broke 
the Cabinet of Washington. 

Monsieur Fauciiet, in the quality of Minister Plenipo 
tcntiary of the French Republic, near the United States, on 
the tenth dav of Brumaire. in the third vearof the French 
Republic, one and indivisahle, corresponding to the thirty - 
first day of October, in the year 1794, according to the 
American or Gregorian Caleudar, addressed, from Phila- 
delphia, to the Minister of Foreign relations in France, a 
dispatch, which is characterised, iu the caption, as the pri- 



19 

vote correspondence of the Ambassador on politics, or, 
ive are accustomed to term it, confidential; and which 
is numbered as the tenth dispatch, of that description, he 
had transmitted. 

In this despatch, M. Fauchet refers to overtures made 
to him by Mr. Randolph, who, he says, had come to see. 
him, with an air of great eagerness ; and of which over- 
tures he had given an account in a previous despatch, num- 
bered six. Immediately after the reference thus made 
to these overtures, follow some remarks relating to them, 
which are too important to be omitted; and which, in true 
fairness, ought to be presented in their original dress, if this 
were practicable. Not being so at present, if it should 
hereafter become so, this deficiency wMl be supplied. The 
original French manuscript may have perished in the con- 
flagration of Washington* The sense of the remarks, in 
the English language, may, perhaps, be fairly given, in the 
following terms. " The Republic could, thus, with some 
'thousands of dollars, have decided on peace or civil war. 
The consciences of the pretended patriots of America have 
thus, already, their tariff. Of these conclusions, painful to 
be drawn, the certainty will, undoubtedly, forever exist in 
our archives. What will be the old age of this govern- 
ment, if it be thus early decrepid ?" In another part of 
this dispatch, M. Fauchet has the following remark. 
"The precious confessions of Mr. Randolfh, alone, 
throw a satisfactory light upon every thing that comes to 
pass." M. Fauchet, in a subsequent part of the same 
dispatch, having observed that Mr. Taylor, a republican 
member of the senate, had published a pamphlet, asserting 
that the decrepid state of affairs, resulting from the finan- 
ciering system, presaged either a revolution or a civil war, 
proceeds with the following remarks. "The first was pre- 
paring. The government, which had foreseen it, reprodu- 
ced, under various forms, the demand of a disposable force, 
that might put it in a respectable state of defence. Defeat- 
ed in this measure, who can aver that it may not have has- 
tened the local eruption, in order to make an advantageous 
diversion ; and to lay the more general storm, which it saw 



20 

gathering? Am I not authorized in forming this conjec- 
ture, from the conversation, which the Secretary of State 
had with me and Le Blanc, alone ; an account of which 
you have in my dispatch numbered three ?" A little fur- 
ther on, he states, that Mr. Randolph told him, "that 
under the pretext of giving energij to the government, it 
was intended to introduce absolute power ; and to mislead 
the President into paths, that would conduct him to un- 
popularity." Speaking, all the time, of the first Pennsyl- 
vania insurrection, he again observes, that the " military 
part of the suppression is, doubtless, Mister Hamilton's ; 
the pacific part, and the sending of commissioners, are due 
to the influence of Mister Randolph over the mind of the 
President; whom I delight, always, to believe, and whom I 
do believe, truly virtuous, and the friend of his fellow citi- 
zens, and of principles." 

These are all the remarks contained in the dispatch of 
citizen Fauchet, that have a personal bearing on the 
American Secretary of State ; except two, of minor impor- 
tance. The first states the Governor of Pennsylvania to 
enjoy the name of republican, and the Secretary of that 
Commonwealth to possess great influence in the popular 
society of Philadelphia, which, in its turn, influenced those 
of other States, and that these men, with others unknown 
to citizen Fauchet, all having, without doubt, Randolph 
at their head, were balancing to decide on their party, 
before the proclamation was published, and before the 
Cabinet had resolved on its measures. The second alludes 
to the constitutionality of the President's remaining to 
command the army in person, while Congress were in 
session, which the patriotic papers opposed; and states 
that citizen Fauchet is certain that the office of the Se- 
cretary of State, which alone remained at Philadelphia, 
maintained the controversy in favor of the opinion " which 
it was desired to establish," 

It was the last of the conceptions of citizen Fauchet, 
that this dispatch, instead of being lodged in one of the 
bureaux of Foreign relations at Paris, should visit the Cabi- 
pets of London and Philadelphia; and take its repose at 



21 

Washington. Yet such was its destiny. On the passage 
across the Atlantic Ocean, it was found on board a French 
vessel, named the Jean Bart, captured by the British. 
The interceptors forwarded it to London ; whence lord 
Grenville transmitted it to Mr. Hammond, at Philadel* 
phia. Mr. Hammond put it into the hands of Mr. "Wol- 
cott ; who showed it to Mr. Pickering and to Mr. 
Bradford. Mr. Pickering made a translation of it for 
President Washington. 

The suspicions arising in the breast of the President, 
from the perusal of this dispatch, were so strong; and his 
mind was so operated upon, by the other members of the 
Cabinet, that he adopted towards Mr. Randolph a deport- 
ment, which, instantly, produced his resignation. 

Mr. Randolph published a vindication of his resigna- 
tion. This commences with a statement of facts, ,and ter- 
minates with a pathetic remonstrance to the President. It 
is interspersed with a variety of interesting documents. 
Among them, are extracts from the previous dispatches, 
numbered three and six ; which are referred to, by the in- 
tercepted dispatch, numbered ten. A complete analysis 
of the latter is made, tad when taken in connection with 
the certificate of Mr. Fauchet, given on board of the Me- 
dusa, on the fifteenth of Fructidor, in the year three; or 
first of September, 1795 ; and when the whole of the facts 
and circumstances are collated and compared, no candid, 
charitable, and impartial mind will impute to Ivlr. Ran- 
dolph the slightest degree of corruption or impurity, nor 
to any other functionary of the government whatever; 
so that the whole mischief seems to have arisen solely 
from the vanity, and self inflation, of the French Minister. 

Of the tissue of errors and folly woven by the fertile 
imagination of the French Minister, it might at this day, 
and with the peculiar views with which this discussion is 
undertaken, appear inviduous to speak. It is sufficient to 
say, that the mischief produced was, totally, irreparable ; 
that President Washington was betrayed into precipitate 
measures towards Mr. Randolph, aud Mr. Kandolph into 
such as were disrespectful to the President ; and that two 



22 

Worthy men lived iti estrangement, until separated by 
death. 

But there is one passage, in the vindication of Mr. Ran- 
dolph, essential to the main object of this discussion ; and 
which will, therefore, be introduced, though mingled with 
extraneous matters. It is of the following purport. 

<»' The time, when the letter crept from the pocket of the 
" British Minister, was exposed to very obvious animad- 
" versions. You had been informed of his eagerness to 
« crown his mission, by the consummation of the treaty; 
i' of which he was an affectionate admirer, and Lord Gren- 
« ville had been ^the anxious parent. Mr. Wolcott, pro- 
" fuse in his responsibilities for others, would seem, in his 
i* letter of October the eighth, to excuse Mr. Hammond 
« from requesting, or intimating that the contents of the 
•< letter might be communicated to the President; and 
ft fathers it as his own suggestion that it ought to be deli- 
<* vered to him, for that purpose. The world cannot be 
« deceived by this. Mr. Hammond understood the good- 
« ness of the soil, in which he was sowing the seed, and 
" duly appreciated the fruit, which was to spring from it. 
" He was convinced, and you must have been convinced, 
" that he counted upon your being made a partner of the 
" secret ; and would have soon explained himself, in that 
« way, if Mr. Wolcott's patriotic ardour to hurl a feeble 
" dart at the republicans of the United States had not an- 
" ticipated him, by a particular application. With this 
" impression, it ought to have occurred that Mr. Ham- 
" mond might have chosen, for the communication, the 
" period when you refused the ratification, from a circum- 
" stance, principally, relative to the French. I assert that 
" he preferred this period, because he was instructed to 
" use the letter for the benefit of his Majesty's service. 
" He had long ago heard that you generally suffered your- 
" self to be governed by a majority of your council ; and 
<< that a concert between Messieurs Wolcott and Picker- 
" ing, who sought, with joy, the seeming authority to de- 
u nounce the foes of the treaty as a detestable and nefari- 
f* ous conspiracy, and were perhaps furnished with some 



23 

ft peculiar topics for your ear, would turn your inind to the 
u revocation of your original intention. Considerations 
" like these should have recommended real moderation, in 
<• deciding upon a mutilated instrument ; and the induce- 
" ment to moderation was heightened by a natural suspicion 
li that the suppression of the letter from me, until Mr. Ham- 
<* mond was ou ship board, arose from his reluctance to be 
" interrogated concerning its references." 

I would, here, arrest the attention of the individual citi- 
zen to whom this discussion is particularly addressed, 
and direct it to the following words, which are contained 
in the preceding observations ; " you generally suffered 
yourself to be governed by a majority of your council." 
The idea they convey will be more amply dilated on here- 
after. 

Sir William Temple, the celebrated English Minister 
to the Republic of Holland, observes that, almost in all 
governments, those, who have an opportunity of knowing 
the interior movement, find the real power exercised by 
hands, very different from those in which the constitution 
has placed it. Let the reflecting citizen consider, what be- 
comes of the constitutional power, in any instance, where a 
President of the United States is so governed, by a Cabinet, 
thus constructed. 

Mr. Pickering was charged, by the President, with the 
functions of Secretary of State ; and he conducted that De- 
partment, and the Department of War, at the same time, 
until the close of the year 1795, when Dr. McHenry was 
called to the latter. This gentleman belonged to the State 
of Maryland ; and thus the States south of the Potomac lost 
all representation in the Cabinet. Virginia, however, had 
one of her distinguished sons, as the representative of the 
nation, at the court, then, the most interesting of Europe. 
He, too, was destined to fall the victim of the Cabinet. 

At the present day; when parties are annihilated, and 
animosities smoothed, partly by policy, but principally by 
the imperceptible though steady operation of time; it is 
eminently useful to take a retrospective and dispassionate 
view of the causes winch originated or embittered them, 



24 

When the dignity of the three personages concerned, Gene- 
ral Washington, Colonel Pickering, and Colonel Mon- 
roe ; is considered, the mind of the individual citizen, ru- 
minating on past evil, and endeavoring to avert future, and 
clinging to the high hopes of his country, with invincible 
fortitude, under every blast, becomes perplexed to know 
what were the elements of this third explosion, in the admi- 
nistration of the first President ; and, if blame attaches any 
where, to whom it is to be imputed. 

The transactions of Colonel Monroe, while Minister to 
France, belong rather to the history of the nation, than to 
a succinct and imperfect sketch of its mere Cabinet- history* 
Nor can it be doubted that, when faithfully exhibited, they 
will greatly embellish the historic page. Certain it is, that 
the communications to his government, at a period when 
Paris, and the domiciliary arena of Paris, determined the 
controversies of Europe ; communications written on the 
spot, and under the feelings of the hour, manifest a wonder- 
ful sagacity and accuracy of political observation and 
judgment, at so early a period of life. They do more. — 
When the march of nations is in ordinary time, the task of 
the diplomatist, replete with ancient lore, and not destitute 
of modern statistics, is comparatively easy. When the 
tempest and the whirl-wind arise 5 when chart, and tables, 
and quadrant, and compass, become worse than useless ; 
and whenever, in fine, impenetrable obscurity reigns, and 
particularly, if accompanied with danger ; then a quality 
is extracted from human nature, of a higher character than 
language has usually been competent to describe; and, 
therefore, by the common consent of mankind, it is deno- 
minated — genius. To the humiliation of philosophy, and 
the confusion of learned pride, let the sublime truth be 
fearlessly told, that genius is as often the concomitant of 
the illiterate, as of the most cultivated minds. In every in- 
stance, however, where intellectual cultivation is combined 
with genius, the results are uniformly, more than propor- 
tionate to what any calculation could anticipate. Genius 
discovered America ; genius analysed lightning ; genius 
gave steam navigation. Whenever the element of ccmfn- 



25 

feicm are in fearful commotion, and ordinary talents recede m 
dismay, genius, with instinctive resolution, marches on- 
ward; and the irradiations of light accompany its steps. la 
new and untried emergencies, genius bursts open the avenue 
of success. Thus, when, in France, the demolition of an- 
cient usages left the committee of public safety at an utter 
loss how to receive the envoy of a sister republic, the genius 
of Monroe broke asunder every fetter, led the American 
Minister into the bosom of the National Convention itself 
and presented a spectacle which interested all Europe. — fc 
Thus, when the liberties of South America were flutter ng 
in the breeze, that same genius spoke to the congregated 
monarchs of Europe 5 and, with prophetic energy, announ- 
ced the solemn and awful monition — thus far may you ad- 
vance, but there must your proud banners be staid. 

The vigour of American diplomacy has been tested on 
many occasions ; and the dispatches of our ministers have 
not merely equalled, but have transcended, in merit of ob-> 
servation, and elegance of diction, those of the first rate 
courtiers of Europe. The productions of Mr. Monroe 
will not suffer, in any comparison. His lively picture of 
the fall of Robespierre ; and his animated narrative of the 
battle between the revolted sections of Paris and the Na- 
tional Convention, on the 5th day of October, 1795, give 
history greater interest than romance. The correspondence 
of Mr. Jefferson, while in France, has been asked for by 
Europe ; nor ought that of Mr. Monroe to be pretermit- 
ted. 

The unsteadiness and vacillation of the French people 
and government ; their giddy and inconsiderate adoption 
and abandonment of momentous measures, evidently invest- 
ed with responsible consequences ; and, what will at first 
appear strange, though it will prove not the less true, the 
•ubordinate attainment of men elevated to high political sta- 
tions, under their republic, when contrasted with the erudi- 
tion and intelligence, the sound virtue and wisdom of the 
American statesmen ; rendered it a task of ho common diffi- 
culty to preserve harmony between France and America^ 
4ear as was that object to the people of the latter, and to 
B 



26 

their administration. There exists no ground to apprehend 
that, in a candid review of any controversies that may have 
passed between them, an impartial mind, foreign to both the 
nations, would pronounce America in the wrong. The po- 
licy of pressing, to a greater or less extent, certain new prin- 
ciples which were desired to be admitted between belligerent 
and neutral powers; of which those of principal importance 
were, that the neutrality of the ship should protect the pro- 
perty of enemies on board, articles contraband of war except- 
ed ; the diminution of the specific articles to be regarded as 
contraband; and the payment for provisions, and other ar- 
ticles not generally contraband ; seized by becoming such, 
from being destined to a place under legitimate blockade, 
might, indeed, admit of diversity of sentiment ; but, that the 
course of the American government was intended to be in 
the strictest conformity to the existing law of nations, as far 
as the antipathies and 'jealousies of the contending parties 
would permit, will not be denied. 

The exertions of Mr. Monroe to maintain harmony with 
France were unintermitted, and eminently auspicious. Yet 
a slight incident interrupted his own with the American Ca- 
binet. The acting Secretary of State, shortly after enter- 
ing upon the functions of his station, addressed a letter, dat- 
ed September 12th, 1795, to the Minister Plenipotentiary 
at Paris, announcing the ratification of the treaty with Great 
Britain, and vindicating its operation, with relation to 
France; and which was received by the Minister in the be- 
ginning of December folio wing, and answered on the sixth 
of that month. On the 13th day of June, 1796, Mr. Pick- 
ering acquaints Mr. PvTon'roe that the views of the govern- 
ment of the United States, relating to the British treaty, 
having been communicated to him, for the sole purpose of 
furnishing him with the means of removing the objections,* 
and dispelling the jealousies, of the French government, he 
had contented himself merely ivith having those means in 
his possession ; without applying them to the object for 
ivhich they were transmitted. Antecedent to the receipt of 
this letter by Mr. Monroe, he was recalled. On his re- 
turn to the United States, he published an exposition of the 



27 

transactions connected with his mission ;' founded, princi- 
pally, on official documents. They afford abundant evi- 
dence of his zeal, assiduity, and talents ; and present a dig- 
nified and triumphant vindication of the American govern- 
ment, initiation to the treaty with Great Britain. 

Thus fell the Virginians under the scythe of the Cabi- 
net. — Jefferson, Randolph, Monroe, were, in succes- 
sion, cut down ; two of them destined to rise gigantic from 
the fall. — What would have been the fate of Washington, 
had he tried another administration, with the same Cabinet, 
is a problem for conjecture. As events proved, the evils 
of the system were to fall, with accumulated force, on his 
successor. 

During the eight years of the Washington administra- 
tion, nothing could transcend the modest and inoffensive de- 
portment of the Vice-President. No intrigues are imputed 
to him; -no attempts to disturb the harmony of the govern- 
ment ; no artifices to disparage the merits or consequence of 
others; no interferences with official appointments ; no tam- 
perings with corruption or ambition. His public and his 
private life exhibited, alike, a model of exemplary purity. 
Like the other distinguished actors on the great theatre of 
the revolution, he had appeared a juvenile and efficient com- 
batant for the rights of America. The early productions of 
his pen evince the vigour of his intellect. His protracted 
contest, with a distinguished loyalist of the times, was at- 
tended with victory over the assailant. These productions 
are*yet too little known to America. They will compare, 
to advantage, with those of Mr. Jefferson, of similar ob- 
ject, and contemporary sera. After the first effusion of blood, 
on the memorable nineteenth of April, 1775, Mr. Adams 
took a bolder and more active course. He, first, shaped 
the revolutionary movements of Massachusetts ; and, then, 
those of the whole continent. He promoted, with decision 
and energy, all the measures that led to independence ; and 
assisted in the formation of the sublime instrument which an- 
nounced it. Leaving his countrymen united, he sought and 
obtained from them the friendship and assistance of a pow- 
erful nation in Europe. He participated in the negociations 



2S 

for peace, and secured, by his firmness, the western coun- 
try. He then represented the new born empire, at the court 
©f the maternal kingdom. In a literary work, of great in- 
terest, he challenged, for the American principles and insti- 
tutions of government, the respect of all Europe and of man- 
kind. 

Four distinguished characters had attracted attention as 
the successor of Washington ; the Vice-President, the late 
Secretary of State of the first Cabinet, the late Secretary of 
the Treasury of the same, aud the Chief Justice of the Uni- 
ted States. American parties differ from those of most 
other countries, in being not merely personal, but also geo- 
graphical. The character of the population at one extre- 
mity of the empire does not differ from that of the other, so 
much as that of vicinous shires, counties, provinces, and 
cantons, in the old world; and yet the difference is such as 
to superinduce a diversity of sentiment and feeling. Im- 
properly cherished, with some who have not had the hap- 
piness of knowing the good qualities of both, and who for- 
get that, from unavoidable necessity, both have their faults, 
these feelings gradually ripen into hatred ; and, unchecked 
by religion, or by philosophy, the bitterest passions are per- 
mitted to rage. Freedom of election, and freedom of the 
press, are republican safety-valves, that discharge the ex- 
cessive ebullitions of the political passious. — When par- 
ties are well defined, and well marshalled, the first princi- 
ple in their tactics, with great propriety, is, to relinquish all 
minor pretensions in favor of the candidates of predominant 
acceptability. The electioneering campaign is thus well 
sustained, on both sides ; and public opinion comes out de- 
finite, and precise. Accordingly, the pretensions of the 
two latter personages alluded to were not exhibited by their 
friends, or favoured by themselves ; and the competition 
remained. between the two former alone. The demarcation 
"was drawn, with tolerable clearness ; both politically, and 
geographically. After a contest ably maintained, the victo- 
ry attached to the candidate of Massachusetts ; and was po- 
litely acquiesced in by that of Virginia. 

It is a great evil, in the Cabinet system, when the legiti- 



29 

mate powers of the Presidential office are distorted from 
the hands in which the Constitution has placed them. The 
evil is increased, when the existing President has not him- 
self the selection of the Cabinet, which thus claims to gov- 
ern him. The second President came into office with a Ca- 
binet Ministry handed over to him by his predecessor. — 
Capriciously to dismiss all these Ministers, for the mere pur- 
pose of having new ones, would be a course little credita- 
ble to the judgment or humanity of the new President ; and 
certainly less calculated to advance the interests of the pub- 
lic, to whom, in some cases, the lights of their experience 
might be invaluable. In a war, for instance, where the 
national existence might be at stake, the publick would be 
little satisfied with the removal of a Minister of Marine, 
who might be abb to save the nation; and the substitution, 
of a less competent and more precarious hand, merely be- 
cause his manners might be more agreeable to a President. 
On the other hand, it would form a subject of regret, that an 
office so high, so dignified, so delightful to an intelligent and 
philanthropic mind, 4 as that of President of the United 
States of America, should have its personal felicity impair- 
ed by an officer being thrust, as it were, into his family, of a 
rude, treacherous, and malignant character ; an officer 
whom he has the legitimate power to remove, but, yet, whom, 
at the same time, he dare not remove, without encountering 
greater evils than result from his incumbency. Did the 
evil arise from the operation of some settled principles in 
the government ; were the officer irresponsible or irremova- 
ble, it would be much more tolerable. But when the re- 
medy rests in the bosom of the President alone, and when 
the circumstances, from whatever cause, are such, that he 
dare not apply it, the case is more vexatious. Does our his- 
tory, however, actually afford cases of a Minister endeav- 
ouring to undermine a President; or of a President endeav- 
ouring to undermine a Minister? 

V% hen President Adams found the fetters of a Cabinet, 
not given to him by the Constitution, tightening too closely 
upon him, he burst the shackles ; and exhibited his native 



30 

firmness of character. The most trying situation to whicl% 
in the execution of his functions, a President is liable is 
that in which the life of a fellow-citizen is, at least, reduc- 
ed to a dependence on his single volition. To this situa- 
tion, President Adams was brought, in the case of Fries, 
of Pennsylvania, condemned to death lor treason. The 
pardon of Fries, by the President, is severely reprobated by 
&en. Hamilton, is disapproved by Col. Pickering; and 
was, indeed, in direct contradiction to the advice of tht whole 
Cabinet. In these trying circumstances, Mr. Adams takes a 
correct view of the nature of the Presidential office, and its 
relations to those who, having no constitutional powers con- 
fided to them, would wrest the exercise of legitimate autho- 
rity from its constitutional depository. He considered his 
responsibility, for executive acts, as sole ; and, when this 
conviction leads him in a direction contrary to the advice of 
all the ministers, he, correctly, deems it both the right, and 
the duty , of the President, to be governed by his own ma- 
ture and unbiassed judgment alone. The following are his 
own words — "This was my situation in more than one in- 
stance. It had been so in the nomination of Mr. Gerry ; it 
was, afterwards, so, in the pardon of Fries, two measures 
that I recollect ivith infinite satisfaction, and which, will 
console me in my last hour." The light in which the prin- 
ciple places counsellors, systematically embodied without 
the authority of the Constitution, and, in fact, destitute of 
any official responsibility, in that character, will appear 
more clear, when the evils attending the cabinet system are 
reduced to specifications. To illustrate, however, the pro- 
priety of the principle, it will be proper to contrast the case 
of Fries with a case in which an opposite course was pur- 
sued to that adopted by President Adams. It occurred to 
King Charles the First, of ©reat Britain, and is contained 
in his posthumous work, to which, 1 presume, some friend 
lias attached the title, Icon Basilica, or Regal Image. If 
the typographer should deem the orthography, the capitals, 
the punctuation, the italics, the parentheses, worthy his cu- 
riosity, he will find the following an exact counterpart of 
the original : 



31 

" I resolved to reform what I should by free and full 
advice in Parliament be convinced to be amisse ; and to 
grant whatever my Reason and Conscience told Me was fit 
to txe desired ; I wish 1 had kept My self within these 
bounds; and not suffered My own Judgment to have been 
overborn in some things, more by others importunities, than 
their arguments; My confidence had lesse betrayed Myself 
and My Kiogdomes, to those advantages which some men 
sought for, who wanted nothing but power and occasion to 
do mischief." 

"I looked upon my Lord of Stafford, as a Gentleman, 
whose great abilities might make a Prince rather afraid, 
than ashamed to employ him, in the greatest affairs of 
state." 

" For those were prone to create in him great confidence 
of undertakings, and this was like enough to betray him to 
great errors, and many enemies : — Whereof he could not 
but contract good store, while moving in so high a sphere, 
and with so vigorous a lustre, he must needs (as the Sun) 
raise many envious exhalations, which condensed by a po- 
pular odium, were capable to cast a cloud upon the bright- 
est merit and integrity." 

" Though I cannot in my judgment approve all he did, 
driven (it may be) by the necessities of times, and the tem- 
per of that people, more than led by his own disposition to 
any heighth and rigour of actions : yet 1 could never be con- 
vinced of any such criminousenesse in him, as willingly to 
expose his life to the stroke of Justice, and malice of his 
enemies." 

" I never met with a more unhappy conjuncture of affairs, 
then in the businesse of that unfortunate Earl : when be- 
tween my own unsatisfiednesse in Conscience, and a neces- 
sity (as some told me) of satisfying the importunities of some 
people; I was persuaded by those, that I think wished me 
well, to choose rather what was safe, than what seemed just; 
preferring the outward peace of my kingdoms with men, be- 
fore that inward exactness of Conscience before God." 

" And indeed I am so farre from excusing or denying that 



32 

eomplyanee on My part (for plenary consent it was not) to 
his destruction, whom in my Judgment I thought not, by 
a ny clear law, guilty of death : That I never bare any touch 
of Conscience with greater regret : which as a sigue of my 
repentance, I have often with sorrow confessed both to God 
and men, as an act of so sinfull frailty, that it discovered 
more a fear of Man, then of God ; whose name and place on 
earth no man is worthy to bear, who will avoid inconveni- 
ences of State, by acts of so high injustice, as no public con- 
venience can expiate or compensate." 

"I see it bad exchange to wound a mans own Conscience, 
thereby to salve state sores ; to calm the storms of popular 
discontents, by stirring up a tempest in a mans own bo- 
some." 

u Nor hath Gods Justice failed in the event and sad con- 
sequences, to shew the world the fallacy of that Maxime. — ■■> 
Better one man perish, (though unjustly J then the people he 
displeased, or destroyed. For, 

\% 6 " In all likelyhood, I could never have suffered with my 
People, greater calamities, (yet with greater comfort) had I 
vindicated Staffords innocency, at least by denying to signe 
that destructive bill, according to that Justice which My 
Conscience suggested to Me, then I have done since I grati- 
fied some mens unthankfull importunities with so cruel a fa- 
vour. And I have observed, that those, who counselled Me 
to signe that Bill, have been so farre from receiving the re- 
wards of such ingratiatings with the people, that no men 
have been harassed and crushed more than they: He only 
hath been least vexed by them, who counselled me not to 
consent against the vote of My own Conscience ; I hope God 
hath forgiven Me and them, the sinfull rashnesse of that bu- 
sinesses 

" To which being in My soul so fully conscious, those 
Judgements God hath pleased to send upon Me, are so much 
the more wel-come, as a means (I hope) which his mercy 
fyath sanctified so to Me, as to make Me repent of that un- 
just Act, (for so it was to Me) and for the future to teach 
Me, That the best rule of policy is to preferre tke doing ef 



33 

Justice before all enjoyments ; and the peace of My Con- 
science, before the preservation of My Kingdoms." 

" Nor hath any thing more fortified My resolutions a- 
gainst all those violent importunities, which since have 
sought to gain a like consent from Me to Acts, wherein 
my Conscience is unsatisfied, then the sharp touches I 
have had for what passed Me, in My Lord of Stafford's^ 
busines." 

"Not that I resolved to have employed him in my affairs 
against the advice of my Parliament, but I would not have 
had anv hand in his death, of whose guiltlessnessel was 
better assured, then any man living could he." 

"Nor were the Crimes objected against him so clear, 
as after a long and fair hearing to give convincing satis- 
faction to the Major part of both Houses: especially that 
of the Lords, of whom scarce a third part were present, 
when the Bill passed that House : And for the House of 
Commons, many Gentlemen, disposed enough to diminish 
My Lord of Staffords greatness and power, yet unsatis- 
fied of his guilt in Law, durst not condemn him to die : 
who for their integrity in their votes, were by Posting their 
Names, exposed to the popular calumny hatred and fury, 
which grew them so exorbitant in their clamours for justice 
(that is, to have both Myself and the two Houses Tote, 
and do as they would have us) that many, ('tis thought) 
were rather 'terrified to concur with the condemning party 
than satisfied that of right they ought so to do." 

" And that after Act vacating the Authority of the pre- 
cedent, for future imitation, sufficiently tells the world, 
that some remorse touched even his most implacable ene- 
mies, as knowing he had very hard measure, and such as 
they would be very loth should be repeated to themselves." 

" This tentlerness and regret I find in my soul, for hav- 
ing had any hand (and that very unwillingly God knows) 
in shedding one mans blond unjustly, (though under the 
colour and formalities of justice, and pretences of avoid- 
ing public mischiefs) which may (I hope) be some evidence 
before God and Man, to all Posterity, that L am farre 
from bearing justly the vast load and guilt of all that bloucl 
E 



84 

which hath been shed in this unhappy Warre ; which 
some men will needs charge on Me, to ease their own 
souls; who am, and ever shall be, more afraid to take 
away any mans life unjustly, then to lose my own." 

What an awful admonition from a monarch about to die 
by a public execution, to those entrusted with high execu- 
tive functions to exercise them with justice and firmness. 

But it was not alone in extending executive grace to 
Fries, that President Adams was thwarted in his admi- 
nistration by his Cabinet Ministers. A war with France, 
whether, in his own judgment, avoidable or not, seems to 
have been determined on for him ; and, in the selection 
of officers, for the conduct of a war so important, his views 
and judgment were to be both forestalled and controlled. 
The following are extracts from certain historical memoirs, 
which have recently appeared from the pen of Mr. Pick- 
ering, Secretary of State in the administration of President 
Adams. They are written in a plain, correct and perspi- 
cuous style; abound in interesting facts, and forcible ar- 
gument ; and exhibit a rare felicity in the translation of 
the classical quotations introduced. 

" The Secretary of War, McHenry, having been sent 
to Mount Vernon, with General Washington's commis- 
sion, I was charged with the duties of his office during 
his absence ; and was with Mr. Adams when he was 
making a list of nominations to the senate, from that which 
Mr. McHenry had transmitted, from Mount Vernon, by 
the mail." 

"The President proposed to give rank to Colonel 
Smith, as a brigadier, before Dayton, who had also serv- 
ed in the revolutionary war; and to name the latter for 
adjutant general." 

' k Leaving the President, I went to Congress Hall, and 
sent the door-keeper to ask some of the Senators, of my 
acquaintance, to step out." 

'{ I informed them of the nomination of Colonel Smith, 
to be adjutant general, presently to be laid before them ; 
and told them why I thought he ought not to be approved." 

" The nomination was made ; and the Senate were in* 



35 

elined, at once, to give it their negative, but some of Mr. 
Adams's particular friends, wishing, to save the feelings 
of himself, and his family, desired the Senate to postpone 
their decision, till the next day, and they would, in the 
mean time, wait on the President, and endeavor to prevail 
on him to withdraw the nomination." 

"They did wait on him — but in vain; finally telling 
him, however, that, if the nomination were not withdrawn 
it would be negatived." 

"1 will not withdraw the nomination," was his answer. 

" The next morning the nomination was taken up, and 
negatived by ail the Senators, except two. 

" Every circumstance here stated was related to me, 
immediately, by one or more of the Senators who were 
present. 

" I certainly had expressed my opinion to not more 
than half a dozen Senators, all federalists ; and not to 
one who was in the ' opposition.' 

"'• I was not unaware of the hazard I ran, in speaking to 
Senators in this case ; and perfectly remember remarking 
to one of them, that what I had said to him, and some 
others, would, probably, by some means, come to the 
President's ears, and cause my removal from office ; but 
adding — ' I have done only what I thought to be my duty, 
and am willing to abide the consequences.' " 

The attention of the individual citizen, on whose anxie- 
ty for the preservation of republican institutions, their fate 
must, ultimately, depend, is now again asked to the pro- 
minent fact, exhibited in this disclosure, from so authentic 
a source. (i A cabinet minister adopts secret steps ; steps 
unknown to, and, perhaps, unsuspected by, the President, 
to defeat Ms measures." 

The President did remove Colonel Pickering from of- 
fice ; but whether the removal was occasioned by the cir- 
cumstance on which the apprehensions of Colonel Pick- 
ering were founded, or by any other cause, or causes, and 
what these were, is a subject which still remains envelop- 
ed with mystery. Br. McHenry, the Secretary of War, 
was, nearly at the same time, and for causes, not now T dis- 
tinctly understood, also removed. 



36 

President Adams makes the following remarks; relative 
to the removal of Colonel Pickering : 

" Reasons of state are not always to be submitted to 
newspaper discussions. 

" It is sufficient for me to say, that I had reasons enough, 
not only to satisfy me, but to make it my indispensible 
duty. Reasons which, upon the coolest deliberation, I 
still approve. 

" I was not so ignorant of Mr. Pickering, his family 
relations, his political, military, and local connections, as 
not to be well aware of the consequences to myself. 

" I said, at the time, to a few r confidential friends, that I 
signed my own dismission when I signed his, and that he 
would rise again, but I should fall forever. 

" His removal was one of the most deliberate, virtuous, 
and disinterested actions of my life." 

In these remarks, the mind of the individual citizen- 
still intent on discovering, and, if possible, obviating, the 
dangers which threaten the accomplishment of his dearest 
hopes — will find a confirmation of what has been before 
adverted to — the extreme delicacy of either removing or 
retaining, under the prevailing arrangements, a cabinet 
minister, irresponsible as such, by a President to whom 
he is seriously obnoxious. 

The pardon of Fries, the removal of the Secretaries of 
War and State, and some other causes connected with 
the history of the times, evoked from General Hamilton 
a publication of very high celebrity, entitled, " A Letter 
concerning the publick Conduct and Character of John- 
Ad ams, Esquire, President of the United States." 

Dr. Rush has observed, and perhaps the remark is not 
unwarranted by Sydenham, that when an epidemic pre- 
vails, minor diseases assume its type. Thus, when the 
election of a President of the United States approaches, 
the body politic assumes a peculiar temperament, and 
almost every transaction of publick and private life, de- 
rives a colouring from the eventful contest. The publi- 
cation of General Hamilton was, undoubtedly, calculated 
to effect the election then approaching. In this conflict, 
the second President, entwined, opposed, and overruled. 



37 

by the Cabinet functionaries, devised and transmitted by 
the first; with geographical and political predilections, 
not a little formidable, still to encounter ; and assailed, 
at the same time, by foe and by friend ; after contending, 
with marvellous fortitude, for a well-earned renown, 
against the tide of evils which beset him, yielded the 
national helm to the third President. The termination 
of the Administration of President Adams was gradually 
succeeded by the spontaneous retirement of the whole of 
the Cabinet. 

There exists some reason to believe, that the original 
construction of the Presidential office was not perfectly 
acceptable to the mind of Mr. Jefferson. When the fed- 
eral Constitution was formed, both Mr. Adams and Mr. 
Jefferson were absent from the United States, and neither 
of them had a direct participation in its edification. To 
the labours of General Hamilton, and Mr. Madison, are 
we principally indebted for that noble production of the 
human mind. It will be recollected, that Mr. Jay had 
no direct agency in digesting this instrument. Yet Mr. 
Jefferson, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Adams, had respectively and 
successively, it is believed, been the principal authors of 
the three invaluable constitutions, that of Virginia, that 
of New- York, and that of Massachusetts. These three 
constitutions are invaluable, because -^Tey"aie~al4 origin- 
als ; they were framed independently the one of the other ; 
the first sparks of democracy since the days of antiquity. 
: — They are the productions of three of the most wise and 
profound minds to which the North American revolution, 
so fertile of men and events, gave birth ; and are, of 
course, the elements of which the constitutions of subse- 
quent epochs are composed. The state constitutions of 
the North American confederacy which have been formed 
prior, and subsequently to the federal constitution, de- 
serve a very critical examination. So do all the amend- 
ments which have been adopted, or even which have been 
proposed or suggested to the Federal Constitution itself. 
The aspect, under which they are properly to be consid- 
ered, widens greatly when the whole are regarded as the 
materials with which the human intellect has been, and is 



ss 

still to be, engaged, in France, in Spain, in Colombia, in 
Brazil, in Greece, and in other countries, whenever a tem- 
ple is to be erected to liberty. It behoves the statesman 
and patriot of North America to follow, with diligence, 
all the movements of human genius, on this high subject, 
in all parts of the globe, in order that his own country 
may not be left behind, in any valuable or useful im- 
provement ; whatever source or origin it may have. It 
will cheer him, in the commencement of this praiseworthy 
task, to find the reflection not less just than it is singular 
— that hitherto the Federal Constitution has not been out- 
stripped, in a single essential particular. Eminently the 
product of good heads and good hearts, it maintains a pre- 
cedence alike sanctioned by merit and by time. The 
difficulties of the government of the human species, still 
lie where they have always lain — in the construction and 
in the action of the executive power. We are experi- 
encing, at this moment, a full portion of these difficulties. 
We have made various and unsuccessful attempts to probe 
the sources, and to obviate the effects of these political 
maladies. The other nations of mankind have given us, 
as yet, no aid ; and we must still rely on indigenous ta- 
lent, and on our native resources. The defects, in the 
Constitution of the North American Executive power, 
are many and glaring; and they will be laid upon in this 
discussion, with no sparing hand. Yet, the individual 
citizen, taking with him, for solitary reflection, the reme- 
dies proposed, must make a solemn pause, before he 
determines on his course of action. Much has, unques- 
tionably, been gained for human liberty, for human rights, 
and for human happiness; and a few precipitate and ill- 
advised measures might lose the whole. Yet, still it will 
comport with the strictest propriety ; it will, indeed, be 
deemed to be required, by the most elevated ethics ; that 
every proposition should be received, with candid atten- 
tion, which has for its object so high a purpose as the 
amelioration of the condition of the human species, in its 
most important of the moral relations, that of government ; 
and particularly, in the most difficult branch of that rela- 
tion, Executive governments 



39 

The letter, written by Mr. Jefferson, from Europe* 
before his departure to take on him the functions of the 
Department of State, contains some criticisms on the A- 
inertean Executive ; but is not definite as to the supposed 
defects, nor does it propose the remedies. So far as it is 
predictive, it was prophetic. Its anticipations were all 
wonderfully realized, at the very first occurrence of a 
contested election ; that of a successor to the great Ameri- 
can military chief. France suspended her course of ope- 
ration with regard to America, in order to know the result 
of this election ; and the conduct of Great Britain was to 
be regulated, in a very great degree, by that of France, 
Remotely, the conduct of all Europe had a dependence 
on that of these two nations. Never was the election of 
a king of Poland so interesting to Europe, as this election 
of a President of the United States of America. In the 
midst of the doubts respecting Mr. Jefferson's opinions, 
reason will afford some clue towards ascertaining the re- 
sults in which they would, probably, terminate. Either 
he was in favor of a stable and independent executive 
power, or preferred a government without such an execu- 
tive, as the revolutionary Congress of America, and as, 
afterwards, the National Convention of France. Argu- 
ments which are deemed irrefragable, might be adduced, 
to prove that the latter form, in the abstract, does not de- 
serve the preference ; a just, steady, well-informed, and 
vigorous executive administration he regarded as desirable 
in the government of men. Some of these arguments must 
have occurred to the mind of Mr. Jefferson. But the pre- 
dilections of Mr. Jefferson for a stable and independent 
Executive are, perhaps, conclusively manifested by the 
Constitution of Virginia. The question of a sole or plu- 
ral depository is the next that must arise. Here the opi- 
nion of America is unanimous ; and there is no ground to 
believe that the sentiments of Mr. Jefferson differ, on this 
head, from those of his countrymen. The third inquiry 
will, then, be on a single Executive Magistrate, without, 
or with, a constitutional council. The fourth would re- 
gard the relationship of the Executive Magistrate to such 
a council, if admitted. It is most probable that the im- 



40 

pressions of Mr. Jefferson would lead liitn to the prefer- 
ence of a single Executive Magistrate, perhaps aided by 
a constitutional council, for the United States of America. 
— But the principle of relationship between the supreme 
magistrate and the council, if the latter should be admit- 
ted, it would be difficult to determine. If, in the ascrip- 
tion of the principal authorship of the original constitution 
of New-York to Mr. Jay, an error shall have been com- 
mitted, it will be corrected with promptitude. With the 
slight reservation which has been referred to, the appro 
bation of the constitution by Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Jay, and 
Mr. i^ams, w.as, perhaps, entire. 

The part of the philosopher, studying the good of man- 
kind, and employed in the investigation of those truths 
which are intimately connected with their welfare and 
happiness, is different from that of a practical statesman. 
"While the former may pursue his speculations to their 
extreme range, it is the imperious duty of the latter to 
erect a firm purpose, on the basis of things, as they are. 
— This line of distinction was scrupulously observed by 
President Jefferson. Whatever speculative opinions he 
may have indulged, relative to the form of government 
best adapted to the United States, when called to the ad- 
ministration, his main consideration was the correct exe* 
cution of the existing constitution and laws. Accord- 
ingly, no other change of importance was attempted, in 
the construction of the government, than one indicated by 
recent experience- — that of a distinct suffrage for the Yice- 
Presidency. This change, Mr. Pickering thinks, should 
be called an alteration merely, and not an amendment. — 
Mr. Morris, of New- York, also disapproves the change; 
preferring the original provisions of the Constitution.— 
Mr. Jay takes a more enlarged and profound view of the 
subject. Governor W r oicott recommends a provision of a 
different nature. It is a question well meriting investiga- 
tion ; and some observations relative to the Yice-Presi- 
dency will, therefore, hereafter, be submitted. 

Mr. Pickering, controverting the claims of Mr. Jeffer- 
son to the character of a statesman and a philosopher^ 
thinks, at the same time, that philosophy has little to do 



4i 

with government. In this, be differs with the ancients * 
and, particularly, with one of the most celebrated Consuls 
of Rome. Cicero observes, that mankind will never be 
Well governed, until kings become philosophers, or philo- 
sophers become kings. In the accomplished and heroic 
ruler of Prussia, history may be regarded as presenting 
an instance of the first branch of the alternative 5 and, as 
a magistrate clothed with the attributes of supreme execu- 
tive authority, the second branch of the alternative may, 
perhaps, be considered as exemplified in the case of the 
American President. Which is most conducive to the 
happiness of mankind, it will be, by no means, difficult 
to answer. Nor can it be doubted, that while the natural 
sciences adorn, the ethic, economic, and historic, are es- 
sential to the character of the statesman. 

With the first Cabinet, it has been *»een, expired its har- 
mony ; and, with the administration of the second Presi- 
dent, almost expired the Cabinet itself. The third Pre- 
sident entered upon his administration, unfettered by the 
remnants of a Cabinet belonging to his predecessor ; and 
was, thus, relieved from an embarrassment that had se- 
verely affected Mr. Adams. Mr. Jefferson did not exact- 
ly adopt the constitutional mode of requiring the opinion 
in writing, of the heads of departments; on matters relating 
to their respective departments ; but so much disused or 
relaxed the regular and systematic consultations, familiar 
in the practice of the first and second Presidents, that it 
was, at length, emphatically announced, on the floor of the 
House of Representatives, by a distinguished and observ- 
ant member, from the state of Virginia, " There is no Ca- 
binet^ Certain it is, that the administration of President 
Jefferson, which endured for a period of eight years, ter- 
minated with the same tranquility with which it commenc- 
ed ; without any explosions or dissentions, exciting the at- 
tention of the nation, or creating him personal anxiety.— 
Whether the benefit of enlightened, independent, and con- 
stitutional counsel, would have impressed, on the most de- 
licate and responsible measures of the third President, any. 
difference of feature, is not easy to determine* 
F 



42 

The administrations of the fourth and fifth Presidents 
have not been attended with the same felicitous circumstan- 
ces, which characterised that of the third ; an entire ex- 
emption from cabinet explosion and dissatisfactions. The 
departure from the administration of the Secretary of 
State, under the fourth President, excited, at the time, 
much public observation. With respect to the situation 
of the Cabinet, at the present juncture, it would be inde- 
licate to enter into detail. The attention of the nation is 
occupied with a paramount question ; but that important 
question is not, entirely, unconnected with a consideration 
of what effects the Cabinet system has, hitherto, produc- 
ed in our government, and of what effects it is likely, in 
future, to produce. 

The occasion is, indeed, eminently favorable to a fair 
examination of the evils incident to the system itself. If 
these evils are found to be serious, and of threatening as- 
pect, an inquiry will naturally be directed to the remedies. 
Though, in the first instance, the remedies resorted to may 
not prove perfectly efficacious and satisfactory ; experi- 
ence will render aid, and light will be derived from differ- 
ent quarters. In a government constructed as ours is, the 
miud of the individual citizen must be constantly engag- 
ed with the situation and prospects of his country, and 
the channels by which public sentiment may gradually be 
manifested, are so fast multiplying, that the opinion of no 
man may be considered unimportant. A detailed expo- 
sition of some of the evils attending the existing system, 
will, therefore, be undertaken. Some remedies will, in 
consequence, be suggested. In this undertaking, it is very 
far from the intention to exasperate, or to wound the feel- 
ings of any one. The remarks, which will be offered, 
are directed to the good of the country, alone ; and are 
neither intended to fortify, nor to disparage the pretensions 
of any citizen, to any trust. They are free from any 
combination, pre-concert, or co-operation, with any on* 
whatever ; and are presented without anonymous or pseu- 
donymous disguise. Originating in no spirit of intrigue, 
malevolence or ostentation, they are the communings of 
one private citizen with another, on concerns reciprocally 



4B 

interesting to them, as members of one great and interest- 
ing family. Submitted, exclusively, in a spirit of candor 
and simplicity, if they do not benefit the sincere enquirer, 
they will not injure him. 



S1I BBVaiLS 

OF THE EXISTING EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 



THE FIRST EVIL. 

The want of some channel, in which public sentiment 
may naturally flow, in the choice of a successor to the ac- 
tual incumbent, may be considered as one of the defects, 
which characterise the course of action, on the present 
system. 

The original constitution, no doubt, contemplated the 
office of the Vice-President as subserving this purpose; 
but has experience justified the anticipation, whether un- 
der the primary provisions, or the amendments, by which 
they were superseded? 

The entire exclusion of the Vice-President from the 
councils of the President, during the whole term of the 
administration of the latter, was little qualified to render 
the former either intimately coguizant of the plans of po- 
licy pursued, or best adapted to carry them through 5 
whether as the temporary, or as the final successor of the 
President. 

Accordingly, in the very first instance of the succession 
of the Vice-President to the Presidency, an interruption 
of harmony, between himself and the Cabinet of his pre- 
decessor ensued. The maintenance of harmony, between 
the chief executive magistrate and his confidential advis- 
ers, is not only essential to their reciprocal well-being and 
success ; but is, also, intimately connected with the tran- 
quility and the prosperity of the nation itself. 



44 

In the second instance of the succession of the Vice- 
President to the Presidency, so great a change in the na- 
tional policy occurred, as to produce a total revolution in 
the heads of departments ; and, of course, so far as it con- 
tinued to subsist, in the Cabinet Ministry. 

If the experience acquired in office be at any time va? 
luable to a nation, and in the ordinary course of affairs it 
eannot well fail to be so, it is an advantage totally sacri- 
ficed on the occurrence of an event of this description ; 
and it is a result arising not from any necessity, not from 
any want of skill or fidelity in the administrators of the 
several subordinate departments, with respect to the con- 
cerns with which they are particularly conversant, but 
from their adventitious quality of confidential advisers of 
the chief executive magistrate, on the general policy anil 
interests of the nation. 

\fter the amendments to the Constitution, requiring a 
distinct designation of the Vice-President, two singular 
consequences followed in practice. 

The Vice-President selected was, in no instance, the 
person whom the nation wished to become, eventually, 
the President, 

The Secretary of State, one of the most confidential 
advisers of the President, and who was at once charged 
with the external and the internal relations of the nation* 
came to be looked to, with some degree of regularity, as 
the successor of the President. 

Thus, so far as the practice may be adopted as a prin-» 
ciple, the President becomes, virtually, invested with the 
choice of his own successor. 



THE SECOND EVIL, 

When the pretensions of the Secretary of State, to the 
office of President, happen to be seriously opposed, and 
with any prospect of ultimate success, his prominent com- 
petitors may, sometimes, arise out of th§ same Cabinet of 
which he is himself a member* 



45 

Thus, if the selection of his successor, by an existing 
President, be admitted, in any degree, an evil ; it is one 
which is enlarged and propagated by this course of action. 

It cannot well fail, from this course, that the seeds of 
jealousy and dissention will be laid in an existing admin- 
istration. 

Nor does the evil terminate in embittering and distract- 
ing the administration of the President for the time being. 
It is calculated to produce, in whatever way such a con- 
flict might result, sudden, great, and unexpected revolu- 
tions in all the subordinate departments of the govern- 
Mieut. 



THE THIRD EVIL. 

It might sometimes happen, in such a government as 
that of the United States, that the real preference of the 
nation should attach to some person, not one of the Heads 
of Departments, all of whom are, in the first instance, the 
selection of a President. 

In such a case, the pretensions of others than Heads of 
Departments, however strong they might, in other res- 
pects, naturally be, may be greatly weakened in a com- 
petition with those who are possessed Of an immediate offi- 
cial influence. 



THE FOURTH EVIL. 

Whether the competition for the Presidency be among 
the Heads of Departments, or between them and persons 
not in executive office, too strong a temptation is held out 
for such an exercise of official patronage, as may be less 
adapted t« the public service, than to promote a particular 
result in the election. 

In the endeavour to avert such an imputation, there is 
siome liability to err 5 and, even where »o real foundation 



46 

for it exists, it is a disposition which will be too often 
suspected, and, perhaps, on some occasions, be unjustly 
/ imputed. 

/ 



THE FIFTH EVIL. 

Whoever may prove the successful candidate for the 
Presidency, on a system resembling that which at present 
prevails, one consequence may be almost foreseen. 

An opposition to his administration will be organised, 
as soon as he becomes known ; and, perhaps, even before 
he is inducted to the office. 

This opposition will be a tide, attending his whole term 
of service ; perhaps, gathering gradual strength in its 
course ; and, probably, arriving at its height towards the 
close of his first administration. 

Instead of a generous support of his measures, and a 
cordial regard to the welfare of the country, the whole 
struggle will be directed to prevent, by every possible 
means, and at all events, the re-election of the same in- 
cumbent to the office. 

Wo rectitude of principle, no purity of conduct, no con- 
ciliatory wisdom, can tame this opposition, or appease its 
animosity. The more sound, correct, and unexceptiona- 
ble the course of transaction, the greater dissatisfaction 
will it give. Blame will be bestowed by anticipation, and 
in the gross ; and every thing will be wrong, not because 
objects are distorted, but the vision oblique ; not because 
the judgment is impaired, but the heart corrupted. Both 
talent and virtue may exist ; but antipathy and prejudice 
will convert them into incapacity and crime. Thus will 
a President of the United States find it impossible to give 
satisfaction ; however worthy his motives, and however 
enlightened his councils. 

Is this a state of things, honorable to republicanism ? 

Is it honorable to human nature ? 

Is it not obvious, that, from the preliminary ordeal 
which every candidate has to go through; it is impossible 



47 

for a character, positively bad, to attain the office of Pre- 
sident of the United States ? Though one candidate may 
be capable of effecting more good than another, yet all are 
capable of effecting some good : and one, that which ano- 
ther could not so readily have accomplished. Would 
not, therefore, diversities of attainment, and diversities of 
geographical relationship, be desirable in the administra- 
tion of executive government ; and might not the principal 
portions of a large empire, and particularly, one of a re- 
publican cast, enjoy their relative and successive claims 
to influence, and to magistracy, with a certain degree of 
acquiescence and content; from all parties. 



THE SIXTH EVIL. 

The anomalous modes in which the electors of the Pre- 
sident and Vice-President are chosen, open a door for in- 
trigue; and render the election too much the sport of con- 
tingency and chance. 

In some states, the electors are chosen by the Legisla- 
ture ; in others, by the people. 

Where the choice of the electors is by the people, in 
some cases it is by general ticket, and in others, simply 
by districts. 

Nor, where the election is by districts, is the mode uni- 
form throughout. 

Whenever it is apparent by the event, that a difference 
in the result would have been produced by a difference in 
the mode of the election ; and when that difference in the 
result would have been more agreeable to the parties af- 
fected by such difference, in the mode ; real ground of 
dissatisfaction will be presented, and opposition, other- 
wise unreasonable, rendered more excusable. 

Legislative elections are peculiarly exposed to intrigue 5 
and, in elections by general ticket, while the voice of the 
majority is rendered effective, the voice of large minorities 
is entirely sacrificed, 



48 

Fairness, therefore, would seem to require that, what- 
ever mode of election should be deemed preferable, it 
should be a uniform mode. 



THE SEVENTH EVIL. 

The attempt of such an incongruous mixture, as that of 
the principal of popular suffrage, with that of state sover- 
eignty, in the election of a President and Vice-President 
of the United States 5 however laudable the views, in 
which it may have originated ; reflects, perhaps, little ul- 
timate credit on our political sagacity, and soundness of 
judgment. 

Reason revolts, at once, from such a political arrange- 
ment, as assigns to one portion of the people, in a certain 
geographical position, thirty-four times the weight of the 
same portion of the people, in a different geographical 
position. 

The distribution of the Union into equal and fair Con- 
gressional Districts, is attended with some difficulty and 
trouble ; but, when effected, after much time, preparation, 
and expense, the benefits are impaired, or lost, and the 
sources of contingency and confusion increased, by the 
augmentation of the number of the districts, by two in 
every state, for the election of the President and Vice- 
President. 

When the election of the President of the United States 
passes to the House of Representatives 5 and the repre- 
sentation from every state, however unequal in its numbers, 
becomes entitled to an equal and single vote ; the dispari- 
ty, unfairness, and impropriety, are presented under an 
aspect too glaring to admit of defence or apology. Acci- 
dent, intrigue, or obliquity of conduct, are permitted to 
have an operation, which might render the result very un- 
satisfactory to the people ; however disposed to order, 
and to peace, and to make every sacrifice, not absolutely 
inconsistent with their rights, for the preservation of har- 
mony, tranquility, and the existence of their institutions. 



49 



THE EIGHTH EVIL, 

It is an advantage that the clay of the election of the 
President and Vice-President should be the same through- 
out the whole United States. 

It is a disadvantage, when the day of the election of the 
Electors, is a day other than |hat of the general election^ 
in the State. 

To leave his home, and to suspend his avocations, for 
the purpose of attending an election, is some inconveni- 
ence to the citizen. When this inconvenience becomes too 
greatly multiplied, a degree of inattention, and of conse- 
quent indifference is produced. It would not be unim- 
portant to compare the votes given for the Electors of 
President, with the votes given on other occasions, through- 
out the several states. 

Nor, perhaps, would it be other than a benefit, if a uni- 
form day of general election prevailed throughout the 
United States. 

The people act with more effect, when they are accus- 
tomed to act together ; their strength i» more fully brought 
out ; and their sentiments are more accurately tested. 

Considerations of climate, agricultural occupation, and 
habits of public business, probably lead to the preference 
of the autumnal to the vernal season. *U ith reference to 
general leisure, and general health, perhaps, the second 
Thursday in November might combine as much advantage 
as any other day ; but time would be requisite to render 
any day, differing from that which has been usual, in 
particular parts, perfectly convenient. In many parts, 
also, elections occupy more than one day ; and some of 
them have reference to the commencement of peculiar 
terms of service ; and some to peculiar local customs. — 
When, however, a desire to economize time, and to con- 
centrate opinion, prevails, local inconvenience is apt, gra- 
dually, to yield to general good. 



50 



THE NINTH EVIL. 

It is also one of those minor evils, with which the pre- 
sent system is accompanied, that there is not an official 
Secretary to the Presidency. 

In the course of thirty- six years, during which the 
office has subsisted, a variety of memorials, petitions, ad- 
dresses, remonstrances, letters, papers, documents, and 
communications, some affecting public, others private, in- 
terests and history ; some of temporary, others of perma- 
nent utility ; have been received or issued. 

Incessant occupation has not permitted their arrange- 
ment, even for immediate use ; much less for proper care, 
and preservation. 

Accordingly, some have been chaotically deposited in 
different public offices ; some are lost, some have been de- 
stroyed, some have perished, some been mutilated, some ? 
perhaps, purloined ; confidence, with respect to some, 
may have been violated ; and others, for want of a safe 
and confidential depository for them, may have reluctant- 
ly been regarded as private property, and carried away 
from the seat of government. 

The accommodation of the executive, and the dignity 
of the nation, require a more careful and responsible cus- 
tody of documents of this character, than the present ar- 
rangements afford. 

Where is now the original draft of the declaration of 
American Independence, as reported by their Committee 
to Congress ? Is it in France, is it in Italy, or is it in 
America ; or has it perished ? Where is the intercepted 
dispatch of the citizen Fauchet ? What has become of 
the original report on the distribution of the Western 
Territory into States ? What of certain original letters 
of (General Tureau, Mr. Russell, and General Jackson? 
What treasures of secret history may not the bureau of 
Mr. Pickering one day afford ? What materials of male- 
volence those of others ? How, above all, has the diary 



51 

of General Washington, during an important period of 
his presidency, become also missing? What individual 
has, in present possession, the original, and who the ori- 
ginal draught, of the valedictory address of General 
Washington to the people of the United States. 

Provisions for the reception, from the proper authority, 
of strictly executive documents ; and for the due preser- 
vation, disposition, and authentication, of them ; are not 
only in themselves expedient, but are also sanctioned by 
the practice of other nations. 



THE TENTH EVIL. 

It is a deformity in the American government of no or- 
dinary character, that a portion of its population exists in 
a state of permanent privation of political rights ; and in 
a condition of absolute disfranchisement. 

It might, at first, be imagined, and particularly by those 
"who are strangers to our history, and to the peculiarity of 
our institutions, that the portion of our population, in such 
a singular condition, is marked by some degradation of 
intellect, by some power of resource, by some defect of 
patriotic feeling ; or, at least, by such remoteness from 
the seat of government, and consequent comparative ob- 
scurity, that their very remarkable and inconsistent situa- 
tion, has been merely overlooked, and has entirely escap- 
ed observation. 

What will be the surprise of the stranger when he is 
informed, that the portion of our population, in this pre- 
dicament, is universally admitted to be the most intelli- 
gent, in proportion to its amount, of any in the United 
States ; and is, perhaps, excelled, in that particular, by 
none in the world of equal amount; that it is, at the same 
time, a very opulent assemblage of mankind ; that, in pa- 
triotic feeling and exertion, it is always in the foremost 
rank : and that, so far from being remote from the seat of 
government, it is at the very seat of the government itself, 



52 

that the evil exists ; and that it is in the very bosom of 
this population that its functions are administered. 

The American citizens residing in the Territory of Co- 
lumbia, ought, not only to be admitted to a participation 
in the election of the President of the United States, but to 
a representation in one, or in both Houses of the Legisla- 
ture ; and to such a degree of authority, in the initiation 
of their local regulations, as, while it preserved inviolate 
the paramount privilege of the General Government, might, 
in other respects, extend to them ail the usual advantages 
of self government. 



THE ELEVENTH EVIL. 

There is no spectacle in human affairs more sublime ; 
there is no institution with which the existence, the pre- 
servation, and the enjoyment of liberty stand so intimate- 
ly connected, as that of a legislative body, free, enlighten- 
ed and pure. 

In the first written Constitution of the age, it was an- 
nounced, as an elementary principle, that the legislative, 
the executive, and the judicial powers, ought to be dis- 
tinct, and that they ought to be independent. 

Neither in that Constitution, nor in any other, have 
they been made so. In the \nglo- American Constitu- 
tions, the English government has been the prototype ; 
and, in that, the powers are all singularly blended. The 
Espan American republics were not directly exposed to 
the same temptation ; and, accordingly, it might be ex- 
pected that this feature would, in their constitutions, be- 
come less predominant. In fact, in the Constitution last 
erected — that of the Federal Republic of Central Ameri- 
ca, or Guatimala— a direct, a bold, and, perhaps, a happy 
attempt has been made at their total separation. The 
line is also drawn with more clearness than in the Con- 
stitution of the United States of North America, between 
federal and national powers. Guided by an incomplete 
knowledge of our institutions, but directed by a reasoning 



53 

power of which the growth has been alike astonishing, for 
its rapidity and for its vigour, Spanish America will soon 
become an object of great interest to mankind. Its con- 
stitutions, as well as the royal written Constitutions, 
which have been framed, and are framing in America and 
in Europe, merit more attention than can here be be- 
stowed. 

Two evils might attach to the relationship between the 
legislative and the executive power. First, The legisla- 
tive power might be under the influence of the executive 
power. Secondly, The legislative might controul the 
executive power — in the exercise of its exclusive and le- 
gitimate functions. Too unfortunately, both these evils 
exist in our government. It would be a subject of con- 
gratulation if the misfortune terminated here. But it ex- 
tends further. Legislative impurity has been evin- 
ced, in transactions, in which the executive was uncon- 
cerned. 

The legislative power is liable to influence from the ex- 
ecutive, by appointments to offices of trust, dignity, or 
emolument, during the term limited for the legislative 
function. 

The legislators may, also, have relatives or personal 
friends, or political friends ; the gratification of whom, by 
executive promotions, may excite a gratitude of peculiar 
sensibility* 

They may be occasionally induced, from the promi- 
nence and honor of their situations, to attempt an in- 
ordinate controul over the executive, in official appoint- 
ments. 

Next to integrity and fidelity, the consideration of most 
importance to the public, as well as to those more imme- 
diately responsible for the prompt and efficient discharge 
of public duties, is the degree of personal qualification for 
the particular trust. 

Instead of this, sometimes, geographical pretension, and, 
sometimes, strength of patronage, are urged. 

The conductor of an important and extensive department 
of public service, is sometimes addressed by legislatiyg 
functionaries, i u language of the following import : 



54 

" You have so many in employment from such a state, 
and so many from such another. We are fairly entitled 
to the preference now. You must make this appointment 
from our state." 

On other occasions he is told, " This candidate has 
the recommendation of such a person, the interest of 
such another ; he is supported by our whole delega- 
tion !" 

Nay, the Legislator, travelling further from the special 
purpose for which his constituent has selected him, and 
assuming a bolder tone, has almost advanced a claim to 
the exclusive patronage over the district which he repre- 
sents, and resorted to a language of which the following 
is, perhaps, no unfair interpretation : 

" Sir, I am told you have lately made an appointment 
in my district, without consulting me. How dare 
you, sir, meddle with my district, without letting me 
know of it ? I beg, sir, you will not fail to give me no- 
tice of the next appointment, that is to be made in my 
district !" 

Compromise and bargaining are very likely to occur a- 
mong legislative functionaries, when they assume an agen- 
cy or controul too direct, or too intimate, with respect to 
the executive province of the government. Tardy im- 
provements, in their appiopriate province, naturally re- 
sult. The attention is engrossed by the question who 
shall be the next President, or Vice-President, or fill such 
an office. 

One step farther may compromise and bargaining be 
carried among legislators — to subjects appertaining to 
the legislative province, and not relating to executive ap- 
pointments. 

It has been alleged, and the genius of secret history is 
so far awakening from slumber, that the veil may soon 
be lifted which conceals the truth, that the assumption, 
by the general government, of a portion of the revolution- 
ary debt of Massachusetts, was effected by a bargain, re- 
lating to the location of the seat of the national government ; 
and thvdthat bargain was reduced to writing, and signed by 
the parties to it, If so ; who has now the original document? 



THE TWELFTH EVIL. 

A solemn and written Constitution should be deeme< 
sacred, that even when proceedings are recommended by 
evident and obvious utility, and the want of sanction is 
rather to be ascribed to neglect than prohibition, care 
should be taken, at as early a period as practicable, to 
legitimate the deviation. 

The Constitution contains a provision that the Presi- 
dent of the United States shall, at stated times, receive for 
his services a compensation, which shall neither be in- 
creased nor diminished during the period for which he 
shall have been elected ; and that he shall not receive, 
within that period, " any other emolument from the Unit- 
ed States, or any of them" 

The State of Pennsylvania offered to the President of 
the United States the use of a house, built by the state, for 
his accommodation. Under this provision, the President 
declined the acceptance of it. Yet the same President, 
and, after him, all other Presidents, have accepted and. 
used a house built by the United States, for their accom- 
modation ; and, along with the house, have also accepted 
and used a partial supply of household furniture. 

The Republic of France offered to the minister of the 
United States of America, the use of a national house. 
Under an analagous provision, the minister declined the 
acceptance of it; and the act was specially approved by 
the President of the United States. 

According to these constructions, the use of a house for 
personal accommodation is deemed an emolument. That 
of furniture must be equally so. Mere place cannot make 
an essential difference. If the use of a house be an emo- 
lument at Paris or at Philadelphia, it must be equally so 
at Washington. The mere authority, supplying the per- 
sonal accommodation, cannot make the whole difference. 
If the acceptance of an emolument from the state of Penn- 
sylvania, or from any other of the individual states, be in- 
terdicted to the President, that of any from the United 
States, beyond the stated compensation, is equally so. 



56 

In the casuistry of the Roman government, it striked 
with a degree of surprise the modern m hid, that a ques^ 
tion should arise, whether a horse could he made a consul. 
Extremes sometimes meet or impinge. Thus it is not a 
little amusing, that, in the American government, a grave 
question should arise and be regarded in different lights 
by distinguished jurists, whether a horse could he deemed 
household furniture. 

The inveteracy of habit may, in some degree, account 
for these singularities, so far as they have a direct bear- 
ing on the executive government of the United States. 

In the origin of the republic, no compensation was as- 
signed to its chief, distinct from his daily pay as a dele- 
gate from an individual state ; and this varied among the 
different states. Accordingly, private fortune, as in the 
government of Venice, became an indispensable requisite 
for public station ; and the private fortunes of the four 
first Presidents became much impaired by their political 
situations. 

This evil at length attracted the attention of Congress, 
On Wednesday, the 16th day of December, 1778, they 
resolved to reimburse their Presidents, and the represen- 
tatives of such as were not living; and to provide a reme- 
dy for the future. They accordingly determined, on that 
day, that a convenient furnished dwelling house should 
be hired for their accommodation ; and that a table, car-* 
riage and servants should be provided for them ; all at 
the public expense. They gave them both a Secretary 
and a Steward. They required a monthly adjustment of 
the household expenditures ; and, it is believed, at a sub- 
sequent period, restricted their annual maximum to nine 
thousand dollars. It was with difficulty that the expenses 
were kept within the limits assigned. Those of the last 
President, probably, transcended it ; and* perhaps, those 
household expenses have not, to this day, been definitely 
adjusted. When the office of Steward expired, and Mr. 
Richard Phillips left the seat of government, with a repu- 
tation perfectly unimpeached, part of the furniture, and 
particularly some of the plate procured in France, remain- 
ed for public use. The rent of the house, its repairs, and 



57 

the bill of groceries, were defrayed, during the adminis- 
tration of General Washington, until February, 1790. 
Congress adopted the policy of special appropriations for 
the support of the household, amounting to about fourteen 
thousand dollars for a presidential terra ; dropping the 
items of table, carriage and servants ; and, with that eco- 
nomic .prodigality which occasionally characterizes their 
proceedings, pretermitting eventual accountability. From 
this fund, it is believed, the house-rent was defrayed, until 
the arrival of the government at Washington ; and after 
that period, when the edifice assigued to the personal ac- 
commodation of the President was conflagrated by an ex- 
ploit of the British arms, than which there are many in 
history infinitely more glorious, his temporary house-rent 
was borne by the public. 

At the present day, the grounds, the edifice, and the 
household, appropriated to the use of the President, are 
becoming, perhaps, worthy the head of such a nation. — - 
Certain it is, that much of his establishment would be in- 
congruous with the condition of a private citizen, in the 
present times ; and therefore, if at all provided, should be 
so at the public expense. 

As the legislators who make the requisite appropria- 
tions, and the Presidents who accept their use, are equal- 
ly bound, and that by oath, to support the Constitution ; 
as three co-incident consecutive constructions, in pari ma- 
teria have been given, by those who have filled the station; 
and as, if those constructions be correct, there is a plain 
departure from the letter of the Constitution ; the proprie- 
ty is respectfully submitted of constitutionally legitimizing 
such provisions for the mansion and household of the 
President, as the nation, in its wisdom, may judge expe- 
dient. 



THE THIRTEENTH EVIL. 

It will, not infrequently, occur, in a government of such 
extensive and diversified concerns as that of the United 
States, that not only the President, but the conductors of 
H 



58 

numerous departments, will require correct information 
relative both to things and to persons, at a distance from 
the seat of government. Indeed, it is a case, which may 
arise even at the seat of government, where the trust is 
large, momentous* or complicated; and where the remedy 
of abuses is rather to be expected from the spontaneous in- 
terposition of the executive itself, than by the harsher, 
though sometimes indispensable, medium of legislative in- 
vestigation and enactment. Inquiries of this description, 
are often attended with much loss of time, much expense, 
great personal inconvenience, no little obloquy, and no 
small degree of uncertainty in the result. Sometimes, in- 
deed, malice may triumph, and envy -be gratified, and sel- 
fish interests subserved. 

It would, therefore, be an essential improvement in the 
administration of the executive government, if a general 
provision were made for the emanation, from proper au- 
thorities, and on appropriate occasions, of a commission of 
investigation. Disinterested, dignified, and impartial 
men, should be selected for its execution. Generally 
speaking, it should be entirely free from expense; but 
where expense is unavoidable, it should be restrained to 
its narrowest limits. 

It was once proposed to introduce into our government 
a general system of espionage ; and, singular as it may 
now appear, the officers of the Revenue Department were 
the intended organs of its operation. 

A bold, but candid use of more legitimate means of in- 
formation ; the employment of an instrument of investi- 
gation, both more honorable and more efficacious; might 
supersede secret and anonymous insinuations, affectiug 
the honor of public functionaries ; at once guarding the 
rights of the public, and securing to the administration its 
confidence ; and alike acceptable to the legislative and to 
the executive departments. 

By neglect and inattention, abuses thrive. By prompt, 
energetic, and impartial inquiry, virtue is vindicated, 
punition overtakes the guilty, and fear reaches all. 



m 



59 



THE FOURTEENTH EVIL. 

The time of the President of the United States is pre- 
cious to the nation. It is intimately connected with what 
has been termed the etiquette of the office. This is a sub- 
ject which has never been seriously and fully discussed. 
Chief Justice Marshall. has made a dignified approach to 
it ; and, in his valuable biography of our most illustrious 
citizen, has fully justified some of the rules and habits of 
^President Washington. Those of the other Presidents- 
have not been collated ; and are far from being generally 
known. Presidents Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, stu- 
diously avoided visiting other parts of the country than 
their private concerns required. President \& ashington, 
on one occasion, adopted a different course, with his usual 
purity and elevation of purpose ; and it was attended with 
the happiest effect. President Monroe judiciously pur- 
sued it to a much more liberal extent. The visit of a 
President first coming into office, to parts of the country 
with which he was not previously acquainted, cannot fail 
to be useful. It was intended by President Monroe to be 
entirely unattended with parade, excitement, or ceremo- 
nies ; and it would be well, should future Presidents imi- 
tate the example, if the feelings of our citizens would 
permit those to be as much diminished as may comport 
with the objects in view. Military, and naval, and mili- 
tia, and scientific displays, are congenial with the habits 
of our nation ; but splendid entertainments and iterated 
addresses, are sometimes as tedious as they are unwel- 
come. 

It is an honourable feature in the etiquette of the office, 
and which has obtained with all the Presidents, that ac- 
cess has never been denied to any citizen. 

In other respects, the etiquette has considerably varied 
with the different Presidents. , It is not otherwise import- 
ant to the public than that, in the intercourse between the 
Chief Magistrate and his fellow-citizens, republican habits 
should prevail ; and that his time, which is the property 
of the nation, and of mankind; should not be too much 



60 



encroached upon by the claims of fashion or of iuterest.— 
In the oral, as well as is the written, form, demands have, 
occasionally, been made, which are not readily reconcila- 
ble with either principle. 



THE FIFTEENTH EVIL. 

The conservation of the unity and integrity of the North 
American empire, is an object which has constantly en- 
gaged the attention of her eminent statesmen : it is one not 
regarded with indifference by thinking minds in other 
quarters of the globe ; and it has become, providentially, 
the favourite and darling idea of the people. There ex- 
ists no ground to apprehend that their attachment, in this 
particular, is misdirected. If there be any single subject, 
with which the future liberties, knowledge, and happiness 
of the whole of mankind, are essentially connected, it is, 
perhaps, the union, and the wise example, of this confed- 
erated republic. Many of the dangers which have, here- 
tofore, threatened its union and prosperity, have been, 
happily, averted ; and three insurrections, and live con- 
spiracies, have left but a passing note for history. There 
still remains a danger, however, of which the aspect is 
peculiarly minatory ; and that is the election of the Presi- 
dent of the United States. It is obvious to the least re- 
flection, that serious danger, to the continuance and dura- 
tion of the union, is not likely to arise from the legislative 
department of the government. The first severe and a- 
larming shock is, on the contrary, to be expected from some 
circumstance connected with the executive department. — 
The reason is sufficiently clear. It is not the greatness of 
the honour ; though this is the highest offered to man on 
the earth. High as is the honour, it must be worn with 
humility ; nor is it unattended with labour, with care, 
with delicate responsibilities, and sometimes with thorns. 
It is not the emolument ; for this is not, and cannot well 
become, greatly disproportionate to the statiou. It is not 
altogether geographical sensibility ; for, intense as this is, 
it would readily yield, it is confidently believed, to some 



m 



61 

fair principle of rotation. It is, principally, the immense 
and dignified patronage thus confided, for so long a peri- 
od, to a single mind. 

When particular portions of the Union have been dis- 
appointed in natural and reasonable pretensions to the 
jirst magistracy of the nation, for a great time, and, after 
repeated trials, a latent inquiry arises, of what benefit is 
this union to us, and might we not be as hajppij^ if we 
ivere by ourselves ? 

If, therefore, a principle could be adopted, by which the 
several great portions of the Union might not only enter- 
tain a reasonable prospect of enjoying, in fair rotation, the 
honour of furnishing a President of the United States, but 
also repose, with tolerable security, on a due attention to 
their claims and interests, during the existing administra- 
tion, may not the bands which unite us as one people be 
strengthened, the agitation which attends the successor-, 
ship be allayed, and a more certain basis for that great 
blessing, steadiness in government, be presented? 

Whether what is about to be proposed will tend to ob- 
viate the evil under immediate consideration, or any oth- 
ers, is a question which must be referred to the dispassion- 
ate and the disinterested reflection of every individual 
citizen. That it will have this tendency is sincerely be- 
lieved by the undersigned ; and its submission becomes, 
therefore, a duty. 



THE SIXTEENTH EVIL. 

The abrupt succession of the Vice-President to a de- 
pending and unfinished term of a President, would be pro- 
ductive of peculiar ill consequences ; which we have, hi- 
therto, happily, been spared from experiencing, but which 
cannot the less readily be foreseen and imagined. 

What the Senate wants is a skilful and dignified prolo- 
cutor ; and the most direct and legitimate means of obtain- 
ing him is from the choice of the body itself. 

Lord Karnes has admirably illustrated the tact, the ta- 



62 

lent, the acquirement, and the experience, requisite for 
such a station 5 nor are they, precisely, such as would best 
qualify their possessor to be a President of the United 
States ; and the inference would be equally illegitimate, 
that the person best qualified to be President of the Unit- 
ed States would always possess the qualities and attain- 
ments peculiarly adapted to conduct, with satisfaction and 
propriety, the proceedings of a deliberative assembly. 

If the sentiments of Governor Wolcott are not misap- 
prehended, instead of abrogating this principle, he would 
impart to it further extension 5 and would have the spea- 
ker of the House of i< epresentatives designated by a pro- 
cess other than that of an election by the body over which 
he is to preside, and of course, with reference to qualifica- 
tions very distinct from those which long experience has 
evinced, in England, to be weighty brilliants in the cha- 
racter of a prolocutor of the House of Commons. 

The celebrated and virtuous Turgot, of France, com- 
plained, in the incipiency of modern republicanism, that 
the institutions of ^orth America were so much modelled 
on those of England. For this he could not see adequate, 
reason. President Adams has shown reason in abund- 
ance; but there exists a stronger proof of their intrinsic 
excellence, derived from quarters which, at that sera, could 
&ot have been anticipated. A political party arose, op- 
posed to Mr. Adams ; but which adhered, with strict 
pertinacy, to English forms and principles of government. 
South America has been emancipated, and, without any 
peculiar temptation to follow English forms, has given 
them almost a uniform preference. In fact, a trial of the 
principles advocated by Mr. Turgot has been made in his 
own country, and the mournful and terrible results still 
appal the pen of history. The feature, however, which is 
now alluded to, that of forcing a prolocutor on a deliber- 
ative assembly, has been abandoned in South America, and 
both Houses of the Legislature elect their respective Pre- 
sidents. 

There would be a manifest utility in so arranging the 



63 

vicarious execution of the Presidential functions that they 
might devolve, when occasion renders necessary, on a per- 
son, who, being a regular and efficient member of the ad- 
ministration, might be thoroughly acquainted with its po- 
licy, from tlie beginning, and might be likely cordially to 
sustain it throughout its various ramifications. 



THE SEVENTEENTH EVIL. 

In the existing cabinet system, there may occur an in- 
congruity of qualification to advise on the general and im- 
portant interests and policy of the nation. 

In military and naval matters, in concerns connected 
with justice, in financial details aud operations, great and 
peculiar skill, attainment, and experience, may be res- 
pectively, and even professionally, possessed, without 
their being necessarily accompanied by those superior 
and comprehensive talents, which cootroul the destiny of i 
nations, and lead them in the path of safety, prosperity, 
and renown. 

Great military and naval abilities naturally seek occa- 
sions for their display; and present strong temptations to 
inordinate and profuse expeuse. Financial abilities, while 
they delight in accumulation, are, at the same time, fa- 
vourable to economy and frugality in expenditure. — 
Those to whom are confided the permanent and solid in- 
terests of a nation, should be equally remote from ex- 
tremes on either side ; and while the citizen is not oppres- 
sed, nor industry checked by immoderate exactions, the 
public welfare should advance by a regular and progres- 
sive march. 

Our country has obstinately resisted the example of othes 
nations, in erecting an appropriate department for interior 
and domestic concerns ; and it has suffered by its reserve 
in this particular. That parsimony is never wise which, 
guarding thousands with scrupulous vigilance, precludes 
tkfc influx of millions to the resources of a nation. Our 



64 

commerce has been marked with unrivalled success and 
prosperity ; but the attention of the nation has been su- 
perficial and transitory te precious manufactures, which 
would create, and retain, at home, an incalculable amount 
of resource, enlarge our exporting faculties, lessen a per- 
nicious foreign dependence, preserve a healthy medium of 
circulation, sustain the extended agricultural and landed 
interests of our population, and encourage its ingenuity 
and its industry. 

Until this essential step towards improvement be taken, 
and while the departments of domestic affairs and foreign 
relations remain in a state of consolidation, the remarks 
which have been made, in reference to other departments, 
will not be reciprocally applicable. Sedulous assiduity 
and high acquirement have, here, been requisite ; and ge- 
nerally speaking, they have been found. Indeed, after 
the separation of these distinct branches of political admi- 
nistration, the remarks will not apply with equal force to 
those and to other branches of public service. 



THE EIGHTEENTH EVIL. 

When all the heads of departments are embodied in a 
cabinet, there must necessarily result, to a certain degree, 
an abstraction of attention from the internal concerns of 
their respective charges; and a consequent partial dissi- 
pation of intellectual force. 

To qualify them, respectively, for consultation that 
shall prove both wise and useful, on general interests and 
policy, requires a course of reading, information, study, 
reflection, and continued deliberation, which the pressure 
of affairs, in their several departments, will rarely, and 
not without essential inconvenience, admit. Hasty and 
immature assentation may therefore be expected ; and will 
not the less readily obtain, from their advice being with- 
out responsibility, and of evanescent evidence. 



'0 

THE NINETEENTH EVIL. 

It is an essential and radical vice, in the present cabi* 
net system, that the counsel given to the chief executive 
magistrate of the republic, however indispensable the im- 
perfection of human nature may render candid and judici- 
ous counsel, and however it may tend to keep the nation 
satisfied, when they know that their President never acts 
without good advice ; is not, and, from the nature of the 
Gase, cannot be, independent counsel. 

The cabinet ministers are called to their elevated sta- 
tions by the President, and they are retained in them by 
his simple pleasure. To expect, therefore, unwelcome 
and unpleasant advice, from men so circumstanced, is, at 
the very least, an unreasonable expectation, even if the 
propriety of it should not be deemed questionable. 

That the nation would naturally be better satisfied with 
an executive administration ; when they know, not only 
that its measures cannot be taken without counsel, but 
that the counsel is given by those who are familiarly ac- 
quainted with the subject, and comes from men, who, be- 
yond general good will, or incidental dissatisfaction, have 
nothing to fear and nothing to hope from the President, is 
a proposition requiring little argument 



THE TWENTIETH EVIL. 

It ought, lastly, to be a sufficient, a conclusive, and a 
fatal objection to the present cabinet system, that it is not 
sanctioned or recognized by the Constitution or by the 
laws. 

How the practice grew up, has, in the commencement 
of this discussion, been, it is believed, truly explained.— 
But, if the manuscript journalsj>f the Senate were permit- 
ted to be published, something further would be known. 
It would then appear, that there was a time, when General 
Washington, as President of the United States of Arae» 
I 




66 

rica, sat personally in the Senate. And, if the secret his- 
tory of that period could be evoked from the tomb, it 
would further appear, that consequences resulted from this 
practice not very agreeable to the President, and not very 
agreeable to the Senators. 

It is imagined that the incapacity of the Seuate for oral 
consultation, has, already, been satisfactorily shown. — 
That a single Senator, out of the body of which he is a. 
member, should officially advise on executive measures, 
might interfere with that definitive sanction and controul 
which the Constitution has wisely confided to that digui- 
fied and venerable tribunal. 

If the substitution of cabinet advice be the best remain- 
ing expedient, it will, it is presumed, be readily admitted, 
that it would be better, if it were sanctioned by the Con- 
stitution, or at least by law. There is not now wanting 
an example of the embodying of executive ministers, for 
consultative purposes, by a constitutional provision. A 
better organization, and one more nicely adjusted to the 
peculiar genius of our nation, may, it is conceived, be de- 
vised. But if an adherence to the cabinet system should, 
on consideration, be deemed preferable, it ought, at least, 
to be remarked, that a very solemn engagement is required 
of all other functionaries, to secure fidelity, in the execution 
of their trust; and shall this, the highest function, that of 
being an official adviser of the first magistrate, be the only 
one without even that degree of responsibility ? 

A further enumeration might be made, of the disadvan- 
tages and embarrassments connected with some of our 
prevailing arrangements; but it might appear invidious to 
extend the catalogue. It will answer a much more grate- 
ful purpose to direct the attention on the remedies. Such 
is the liberality of thinking, and of action, which charac- 
terize our citizens at the present epoch, that any candid 
and dispassionate suggestions, calculated to fortify an edi- 
fice of liberty, reared at the expense of so much precious 
blood and treasure ; and to secure for it the respect of the 
wise and good of all countries ; and, particularly, at this 
happy era, of the early and illustrious European friend* 



67 

whom the arms of the nation are extended to embrace 5 
cannot but be acceptable. 

It will not be entirely superfluous to observe, that, in 
proposing a modification of the advisory functions of the 
executive, it is not in contemplation to disturb any exist- 
ing pretensions to confidence, or the sensibilities connect- 
ed with them 5 but to give it, if approved, an operation, 
on the one hand, so far prospective as to pass present ex- 
citement, and, on the other, so near as to prevent the re- 
currence of a part of what is painful to the nation on simi- 
lar occasions. 

A review of the written Constitutions, extraneous to 
our particular country, would not be unattended with uti- 
lity, and, with these, the future destiny of Europe is, per- 
haps, intimately allied. The consideration of improve- 
ments in our own institutions is, at once, attended with the 
benefit of advancing our internal welfare, and the honour 
of contributing, indirectly, to that of the rest of mankind, 

A. B. WOODWARD. 

Washington, Thursday, May 21th, 1824. 



ON THE NECESSITY AND IMPORTANCE OF 

A DEPARTMENT OF DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, 

IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Respectfully submitted to the President, and to the Le,- 
gislative and Executive Authorities. 



The natural order of the Executive Departments of a 
Government, is that of Revenue, Domestic Affairs, For* 
sign Relations, and War. 



m 

Revenue is that indispensable requisite without which 
civilized government, of any kind, cannot be sustained ; 
and the primary application of revenue, is to concerns of 
an internal character. Pacific are anterior to hostile re- 
lations, and are those in which the other necessarily ter- 
minate. 

Almost every nation possessing a high rank in the scale 
of civilization, has instituted a department of Internal Af- 
fairs ; and our own constitutes, perhaps, the only exception. 

The distinct nature and qualities of internal concerns, 
and foreign relations, must be obvious to every mind ; nor 
are the talents and attainments requisite to the correct ad- 
ministration of the one, less clearly diverse from those 
which the other demands. 

Both the internal affairs and the foreign concerns of the 
United States of America, from the wonderful growth and 
incalculable consequence of our country, have assumed a 
magnitude which renders their consolidation oppressive, 
and attended with a waste of the public resources; and 
the indications of public feeling are by no means equivocal 
that their separation is alike necessary to the felicity of 
those to whom these important interests may, from time 
to time, be confided, and to the national welfare. 

I shall, therefore, proceed with a free, but, I trust, no 
Indelicate pencil, to pourtray what I deem the great out- 
lines and features of a Department of Domestic Affairs ; 
regarded under an aspect contrasted with those which 
would peculiarly distinguish the Department of Foreign 
Relations. 

A classification of the various objects, which a title so 
comprehensive as national concerns of an .internal charac- 
ter would embrace, is a task of no small difficulty ; nor is 
an enumeration of the specific articles, to which, in every 
class, attention must be directed, likely, at any time, to 
be correct, in the first instance. In this, as in other great 
national movements, while a rapid march is requisite when 
the line of duty is open and clear, yet the lights of expe- 
rience, and the radiance of genius, from whatever quarters 
they may spring, are always to be readily and candidly 
received * 



69 

If it be admitted that, in a well organized government, 
anomalous branches of action and expenditure ought not 
to be encouraged, though occasionally allowed ; if the 
principle be rigorously adhered to, and probably a better 
could not be imagined, that those in every line and walk 
pf public service should be subject to some certain and 
well known responsibility and controul ; it will, perhaps, 
greatly facilitate the inquiry about to be entered into, to 
advert to what lias already been commenced, and, in no 
small degree, matured, in our administration, whether* 
jstrictly speaking, out of any department, or if not extrin- 
sic altogether, at least doubtfully, when not inappropriate- 
ly, placed. 

We shall thus find that, of the grand ramifications of a 
department of domestic or internal affairs, not less than 
three branches are already in existence and successful 
activity. The post-roads, the post-offices, and the trans- 
portation of the mail, indicate a progress in the United 
States honorable to the country, and are the wonder of 
other nations. So the surveys and disposal of unsettled 
lands have been reduced to an exact and prosperous sys- 
tem. As far as it is proper that the executive should be 
concerned with the administration of justice, its interests 
are protected by a high and distinguished officer. The 
national coin, if regarded as a subject appurtenant to this 
department, may also be adverted to. 

The people of the United States have thus adequate 
reason to approve of much that has been effected by those 
in their service ; and have a good right to believe, that 
what remains will not be long deferred. 

The diffusion of knowledge may be justly regarded as 
the basis of republican government. Without this, igno- 
rance, tyranny, superstition, and disobedience to the laws, 
prevail, and all useful institutions languish or perish. — 
With it, public and private morals, liberal improvements 
in the arts and science?, industry, tranquility, and both 
individual and national glory, are maintained and flourish. 
There is no reason that a republican should yield to 
any other form of government in these essential parti T 
c^ars, It is, in fact, eminently calculated to transcend 



70 

all others ; and both antiquity and modern times afford a- 
bundant proof of the position, What lasting renown have 
the republics of ancient Greece conferred on their citizens; 
.and where are the limits to which the American people 
may not, in the same sphere, justly aspire? 

Much of what has been done, or attempted, in this line, 
in some foreign countries, belongs to ostentation and pa- 
rade. In not a few instances, governments have retard- 
ed, instead of promoting the advancement of knowledge. 
I shall not tempt my countrymen to step beyond the line 
of utility and good sense ; but let them not admit a doubt 
that some exertions are incumbent on them, not only from, 
a discreet regard for their own welfaie, but also from a 
^generous attachment to the interests of mankind. 

A Department of Domestic Affairs ought, therefore, with 
great propriety, to be charged with whatever relates, un- 
der legislative sanctions, to the advancement of the sci- 
ences, to the promotion of the arts, to their application and 
subserviency to the general interests of agriculture, of ma- 
nufactures, of commerce, and of internal improvement ; 
and, of course with all that, under a wise, prudent, and 
correct government, concerns national education and in- 
formation. 

The interior organization of a Department of Domestic 
Affairs, may probably require the distribution of its con- 
cerns to five several branches. 

Of these, the first would be that of Science and the 
Arts, and the second, one of public economy. The re- 
maining three, being already raised, will need to be spe- 
cified, only, after a clear view of the detailed duties which 
ought to be charged on the two first. 

The most important knowledge to the citizen, in a free 
land, is that of the laws of his own country. 

To the first branch of a Department of Domestic Af- 
fairs, the following are among the earliest duties to be 
committed : The custody and preservation of the origi- 
nals of the Declaration of Independence, of the Consti- 
tution of the United States, of all the Laws made under it, 
and of similar, and other domestic archives, together 



n 

with the printing and distribution through the nation of 
these documents, or such of them as may be required by 
law. 

The extreme confusion and irregularity prevailing in 
our own country, and, indeed, in all others, except two 
Asiatic nations, on a subject that comes more home to the 
business of life than any other, have always been lament- 
ed. The subject alluded to comprehends measures of 
length, weights, measures of capacity, and measures of 
land. 

These ought to command the early and sedulous atten- 
tion of a branch of Science and Arts in the Department of 
Domestic \ffairs. The selection of a standard of length, 
and the reduction of measures and weights to practical 
uniformity, are arduous and difficult tasks ; and requires 
skill, patience, attention, time, perseverance, and minute 
detail, in whatever branch or department of the public ser= 
vice they should be undertaken. 

Connected with this is the subject of time itself. 

The people of the United States of America, without 
any laws or enactments whatever on this subject, mani- 
fest so universal and so implicit an obedience to the regu- 
lations of the Italian Pontiff, that the measure and distri- 
bution of time will, at present, be totally pretermitted. 

The copy-rights of authors, and the patent-rights of 
discoverers and inventors, constitute an interesting item 
in this branch. By too servile an imitation of British 
enactments on these subjects, and which are essentially 
inapplicable to the state and society of our country, Ave 
have committed a double injury ; an injury to praise- 
worthy individuals, and an injury to the public itself. — 
It has been remarked by foreigners, and, perhaps, the 
truth of the remark may be admitted without any improper 
self- ad ulation, that the Americans of the United States 
seem to possess a peculiar aptitude to inventions in the 
arts. Certainly the display of their exertions in this line 
is calculated to impress this idea, not only from the num- 
ber of the inventions, from their variety, and from their 
beauty, but from the extreme ingenuity with which some 



n% 



of them have been devised. The artists are not reward* 
ed in the manner that tbey merit from an enlightened and 
grateful country ; and the public are infested with a do- 
mestic vexation, and with litigious broils, not merely dis 
agreeable in themselves, but in no degree calculated to 
reflect honor on either side. A vista of great and exten- 
sive improvement, on these heads, opens to view, not 
only intimately connected with the fame of our country, 
but also with its manufactures and domestic comforts, ag 
well as its exporting interests. 

The general interests of science, of the arts, of agricul- 
ture, of manufactures, of commerce, particularly that of an 
internal character, and of national instruction, have alrea> 
dy been alluded to, as coming within the scope of a Do- 
mestic Department 

It is not intended to approach any thorny or constitu- 
tional questions, in relation to national education and in- 
ternal improvements, in this discussion. It will be suffi- 
cient, for the present occasion, barely to observe that these 
great concerns demand further attention from our states* 
men and patriots ; and that, on a Domestic Department 
must be reposed the only reliance for their faithful execu- 
tion and administration. 

To the branch now under consideration, the principal 
portion of these matters appertains ; and, whatever our 
national councils may, in their wisdom, see proper to do* 
or to attempt, with regard to public education and informa- 
tion, to observatories, to agricultural and polytechnic 
schools, to botanic gardens, and to laboratories, will claim 
its attention* 

The civilization of the Indians, hopeless as the prospect 
is, ought not to be lost sight of by our government. Its 
character and philanthropic tendencies requires this atten- 
tion ; and the regulation of pacific Indian intercourse may 
soon, properly, be severed from that province of adminis- 
tration, of which the prominent charge is that of hostile re* 
lations. 

The census of the United States is likely to become on& 
of the most important statistical documents afforded in any 
country. There are some purposes, which it is well cal^ 



78 

culafced to subserve, that, hitherto it has not been applied to. 
Whatever complexion it may be destined to assume, the 
details of its execution, publication, and distribution, oc- 
casionally require continued attention and industry. — 
Forming a grand political material, in the very construc- 
tion and rearing of our admirable frame of government, it 
cannot be doubted that its correctness and regular comple- 
tion, will be objects dear to the nation. It constitutes 
one of those spheres of knowledge properly to be assign- 
ed to the first branch of the domestic department. 

Along with it may, indeed, be consigned, all the inter- 
course and correspondence between the general govern- 
ment and the several state governments, which go to illus- 
trate the history, and the statistics, incident to each. 

All the colonial establishments within, and, perhaps, 
in the pacific relation without, the United States, which 
may require the attention of the General Government, 
may be considered in connection with the first branch of 
the Department. 

It is not improbable that more than what has been speci- 
fied will fall within this comprehensive sphere ; but, as has 
been before remarked, the lights of experience and of ge- 
nius must be waited for, and, when presented, a cheerfuV 
admission of them rendered. 



JC 



74 



ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE BUREAUX 

IN A DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 



Supplementary to the discussion on the necessity and im- 
portance of a Department of Domestic Affairs in the 
Government of the United States. 



A slight attention to the interior organization of a De- 
partment of Foreign Affairs, will prove that language is 
an important elementary principle in the formation of its 
branches, in addition to that of geographical association. 

The language of the United States of America, and of 
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, is des- 
tined to cover a vast portion of the globe. It is a fine and 
noble language : the most copious in the world ; wonder- 
fully simple in its construction, and daily advancing in its 
energies ; and, could it be divested of the barbarism of its 
orthography, it might justly rank the first. 

Whatever destiny may attend the language, certain it 
is, that the circumstance of its being common to two such 
great nations, will strengthen and multiply the relations 
likely to subsist between them ; imparting inconceivable 
force to the ties previously formed by consanguinity, by 
religion, by manners, by jurisprudence, by resemblance 
pf political institutions, and by an extensive and active 
commerce. 

To the maternal country, therefore, must be allotted^ 
by her magnificent offspring, the primary Bureau in her 
Department of Foreign Affairs. 

The first Bureau would thus embrace the United King- 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, and its dependencies. 

The position pf France on the Continent of Europe,, 
ihe connection she has had with us in our autocratic war, 
or our war for self-government, her power, her courage,, 
ber elegant language a,nd literature, and her universal re 



ftnemcnt, combine to tender her the second object of e£* 
terior attention to this Republic. 

The second Bureau would, therefore, comprise France^ 
the colonial establishments which British moderation has 
left to her in Asia, Chandernagore, Pondicherry, Mahi, 
Isle a Bourbon ; that colonial establishment in America, 
of which the independence is about to be confirmed, the 
island of Hayti or St. Domingo ; and countries using the 
French language in general. 

The discovery of the occidental hemisphere, the early 
settlement of it, the number and the magnitude of her colo- 
nies, their proximity to us, their current revolutions, the 
majesty and sublimity of her existing misfortunes, and an 
intrinsic grandeur of character, of which all the efforts of 
the Unholy Alliance have not yet deprived her, present 
to the North American Republic, Spain and the domin- 
ions she once swayed, in an affecting attitude. 

The third Bureau would comprehend Spain, including 
Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica 5 the Asiatic Philippine Isl- 
ands, the Atlantic Spanish Islands, all the Republics of 
South America, Mexico, Guatimala, Colombia, Chili, 
Peru, the United Provinces of La Plata 5 and countries 
using the Spanish language in general. 

The rise of a throne in America will be considered a 
curiosity, and a moral phenomenon, attended with no or- 
dinary interest ; and whether the new empire at Brazil* 
of so expansive a geography, and so numerous a popular 
lion, is destined to be permanent, or only to present to its 
devoted wearer an ephemeral crown, is a problem yet to 
be answered by the plume of history. Her constitution 
is methodical, minute, of ample volume, and of chaste 
style ; and the early and respectful approach she has 
made to us, enhanced in its value by the learning, the ta- 
lents, and the polish of her distinguished envoy, gives her 
immediate claims on our attention. The Brazilian em- 
pire is a very important portion of the American conti- 
nent ; and the new and splendid Brazilian constitution is 
a document, which, whatever its results may be, will have 
effectuated no disparagement to the cause ©f liberty and of 
mankind. 



76 

The Fourth Bureau in the Department of Foreign Af- 
fairs, would superintend our existing and future relations 
with the kingdom of Portugal, the empire of Brazil, Per- 
nambuco, Goa, Macao, Madeira, and the insular Atlantic 
dominions of Portugal ; and, in general, all countries and 
places using the Portuguese language. 

Th ill the interests of civilized mankind ever encounter 
such a shock as that beneath which the Roman empire 
fell? The progressive settlement and refinement of Rus- 
sia, and of the two Americas, relieve the anxiety of the 
philanthropist, and enable him to respond to this startling 
interrogatory a negative answer. But it is highly import- 
ant to mankind that Russia should advance in refinement; 
nor can it be regarded as a blessing of ordinary value that 
her destinies are confided to the hands of a monarch so 
enlightened as he who now holds her sceptre. 

The Germanic tongue and the cognate languages occu- 
py a vast population in the interior and North of Europe, 
and our commerce with those regions has not yet received 
all the attention it merits. 

I shall enumerate, as belonging to the fifth Bureau, all 
our concerns with Russia, Austria, Hanover, Sweden, 
Denmark, Norway, Hamburg, Prussia, the Duchy of 
Mecklenburg, Swerin, and the Russian Colonies in North 
America. 

In like manner I shall groupe, as the appurtenances of 
the sixth Bureau, the Netherlands, Batavia, the Moluc- 
cas, Switzerland, Tuscany, Upper Italy, Naples, Sar- 
dinia, and Sicily. 

The emancipation of Greece is pregnant with conse- 
quences dear to the human race — peculiarly dear to Ame- 
rica. Our Mediterranean commerce will become highly 
interesting to us, as soon as the nations environing that 
sea shall have come to a state of repose. Our mediation 
between the metropolis of the Bosphorus and that of the 
Morea, might save the effusion of much blood. 

The seventh Bureau would consolidate whatever may 
appertain to Greece, to Turkey, to Egypt, to Morocco, 
to Tunis, to Tripoli, to Algiers, to Africa in general, to 



77 

Mahometan countries in general, accessible by the Medi- 
terranean. 

The solid zone of civilization is ready to receive its 
tlosing cement from the hands of the United States of A - 
merica; and the grand, venerable, diluvian empire of 
Asia, is about to be touched, on her oriental confine, by the 
naval arm of the republic, extended from Astoria. We 
should be prompt to impress deeper the favourable senti- 
ments already bestowed on us in advance by the court of 
Pekin, disregarding the vexatious scruples of a vain and 
silly etiquette; and our commercial relations with Asia 
will soon deserve to be considered under an aspect entirely 
new. - 

The eighth Bureau would be devoted to China, to India; 
so far as regarded separately from the first Bureau ; to 
Persia, to Arabia, and to Asia in general. 

The existing commercial greatness of North America, is 
not yet well understood even in the country itself. It is 
a commerce which requires and deserves, from a masterly 
hand, an accurate comparison, not only with that of the 
most flourishing nations of antiquity, but more particularly 
with that of the greatest modern nations. The result of 
such an investigation would satisfactorily shew, how emi- 
nent we already are ; how incalculably growing are our 
resources ; and what are the means necessary to protect, 
and to advance our interests. We would, then, perceive, 
that if we hesitate to avail ourselves of the inconceivable 
advantages we possess, on account of any little expense 
attached to the initiatory and preparatory measures ; if 
we neglect to secure for our country the capacities which 
nature and Providence have offered her ; if, in short, we 
sacrifice the permanent pre-eminence of the North Ameri- 
can United States to the prosperity of more vigilaut and 
spirited nations ; we shall be guilty of a criminal abandon- 
ment of duty, which will not escape the censure of his- 
tory, nor be unattended with bitter self-reproach. 

Whatever expense, therefore, is indispensably requisite 
for the development, establishment, and prosecution of a 
well organised and active Department of Domestic Affairs, 



Y8 

of an industrious and well informed Department of For- 
eign Affairs ; and of a diplomacy, so comprehensive and 
extensive as to be commensurate only with the nations 
that inhabit our globe ; ought to be readily met and cheer- 
fully sustained. 

Yet the genuine principles of economy are not to be 
immolated to the spirit of adventure and audacity. 

Let, then, the expense of the Bureau attached to the 
Department of Foreign Affairs, be approached. 

I shall propose for the under Secretary, or Chief Clerk, 
or whatever other denomination may be adopted, of the 
British Bureau, an annual compensation of two thousand 
dollars; of the French Bureau, of one thousand six hun- 
dred dollars; of ihe Spanish Bureau, of one thousand 
eight hundred dollars ; of the Portuguese Bureau, of one 
thousand two hundred dollars; of the Baltic and Ger- 
manic Bureau, of one thousand four hundred dollars ; of 
the Batavian and Italian Bureau, of one thousand dollars: 
of the Ottoman Bureau, of eight hundred dollars; of the 
Oriental Bureau, of six hundred dollars ; the total, ten 
thousand four hundred dollars. 

But it is not fair to consider this total as clear fresh 
expense. Of the existing expense of the Department of 
State, regarded under this aspect, fifteen thousand nine 
hundred dollars, a considerable portion attaches to the 
foreign relations. 

I should prefer the title of Under Secretary, or some 
other epithet, to that of Chief Clerk ; because many of the 
Bureaux will require no subordinate Clerks ; because the 
situations will all exact extraordinary attainment, and 
high respectability ; and because it is probable that, in 
process of time, as business accumulates, and affairs are 
methodized, a wise, provident, and liberal legislature, will 
increase the salaries, from the moderate sums now pro- 
posed, to amounts adequate to the dignity of the stations* 
Let it be constantly remembered, that the in-gatherings of 
the Treasury, from a correct administration of the public 1 
business, infinitely transcend all the out-layings necessary 
to produce that result. 



Some minds apprehend the corruption of pure republjr 
can attachments, from the extension of our diplomatic in- 
tercourse. What court is it, in the world, that presents a 
spectacle more attractive, and more imposing ; better for- 
med to invite affection, or command respect ; than the ad- 
ministration of this powerful, this beautiful Republic ? — 
Exists there an instance of a citizen lost to her, by the me- 
tricious charms of any foreign country. 

May not the actual exhibition of the living man, and the 
experience of his virtues, his talents, and his accomplish- 
ments, gain, from foreign nations, the love of North Ame- 
rica, and the love of Republicanism. 

A. B. WOODWARD 

Washington, April 22? 1824, 



To the Discussions on the necessity and importance bf a Department 
of Domestic Affairs in the Government of ihe United States, and 
on the distribution of the Bureaux in the Department of Foreign 
Affairs, being forms of enactments calculated to bring out result 
resembling those contemplated in the Discussion. 



TITLE- 

An Act to divide the Department of State into two sepa- 
rate and distinct Departments, to be Renominated ', res- 
pectively, the Department of Domestic Affairs, and the 
Department of Foreign Affairs; and for other purposes. 



FORMS OF ENACTMENTS, 

Beit enacted, 8£c. That the Department of State shall 
be divided into two separate and distinct departments, of 
which the first shall be denominated the Department of 
Domestic Affairs, and the second shall be denominated 
the Department of Foreign Affairs. 

Sec. 2. Arid be it enacted, That there be, in the De- 
partment of Domestic Affairs, the following officers : — - 
First, a Secretary ; second, a Commissioner of Science 
and Arts ; third, a Commissioner of Public Economy ; 
fourth, a Commissioner of Posts ; fifth, a Commissioner of 
iPublic Lands; sixth, a Commissioner of the Mint; se- 
venth, a Commissioner of Patents ; eighth, a Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs ; and ninth, a Commissioner of 
Justice* 

Sec. 3. And be it enacted, That there shall be in the 

Department of Foreign Affairs, the following officers, viz s 

First, a Secretary ; second, an Under Secretary of Bri* 

tish Affairs ; third, an Under Secretary of French Affairs: 

L 



82 

fourth, an Under Secretary of Spanish Affairs ; fifth, an 
Under Secretary of Portuguese Affairs ; sixth, an Under 
Secretary of Baltic and Germanic Affairs ; seventh, an 
Under Secretary of Belgic and Italic Affairs ; eighth, an 
Under Secretary of Ottoman Affairs ; and, ninth, an Un- 
der Secretary of Oriental \ffairs. 

Sec. 4. And be it enacted , That the Secretary of the 
Department of Domestic Affairs, and the Secretary of the. 
department of Foreign Affairs, shall execute such duties 
as may, from time to time, be charged upon them by law, 
or, not being contrary to law, by the President of the Unit- 
ed States ; and the several officers in the said Departments 
shall execute such duties as may, from time to time, be 
charged upon them by law, or, not being contrary to law ? 
by the Secretary of the respective Department. 

Sec. 5. And be it enacted, That the following shall be 
the salaries of the several officers in the Departments of 
Domestic and Foreign Affairs, the whole payable quar- 
terly at the treasury of the United States: Of the Secre- 
tary of the Department of Domestic Affairs, six thousand 
dollars ; of the Secretary of the Department of Foreign 
Affairs, six thousand dollars ; of the Commissioner of 
Science and Arts, four thousand dollars ; of the Commis- 
sioner of Public Economy, four thousand dollars ; of the 
Commissioner of Posts, four thousand dollars ; of the 
Commissioner of Public Lands, three thousand dollars ; 
of the Commissioner of the Mint, two thousand five hun- 
dred dollars; of the Commissioner of Patents, two thousand 
dollars; of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, two thou- 
sand dollars ; of the Commissioner of Justice, four thous- 
and dollars ; of the Under Secretary of British Affairs, 
two thousand five hundred dollars ; of the Under Secre- 
tary of French Affairs, two thousand dollars ; of the Un- 
der Secretary of Spanish Affairs, two thousand two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars ; of the Under Secretary of Portu- 
guese Affairs, one thousand five hundred dollars ; of the 
Under Secretary of the Baltic and Germanic Affairs, one 
thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars; of the Under 
Secretary of Belgic and Italic Affairs, one thousand two 
hundred and fifty dollars ; of the Under Secretary of Ot 



toman Affairs, one thousand dollars ; and of the Under 
Secretary of Oriental Affairs, eight hundred dollars. 

Sec. 6. And be it enacted, That, as soon as convenient- 
ly may be, the Mint shall be transferred to the seat of the 
government of the United States. 

''Sec. 7. And be it enacted, That, as soon as convenient- 
ly may be, the office of the Commissioner of Indian Af- 
fairs shall be established at the seat of government of the 
United States. 

Sec. 8. And be it enacted, That, as soon as convenient- 
ly may be, after the establishment of the Mint at the seat 
of the government of the United States, an improved coin- 
age shall be made, of one hundred millions of half-cents, 
ten millions of half-dismes, one million of half-dollars, 
and one hundred thousand half-eagles. 

Sec. 9. And be it enacted, That all acts, and parts of 
acts, coming within the provisions of this act be repealed.. 

Sec 10. And be it enacted, That this act shall take 
effect from and after the first day of January next* 



asHDms. 



Page. 
Adams, 6, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 
36, 39, 41, 59, 61 
Administration dissolved, 15 

Adversion to remedies, 66 

Affairs, Domestic, Department of, 63 
Amendment of the Constitution ne- 
cessary, 57 
America, 6, 24,25,27,39,50 
American diplomacy, vigor of, 25 
American Statesmen, 25 
Anti-Federalists, 7 
Antiquity, 14 
Arrogance of foreign ministers, 18 
Attorney-General, 9 
Assumption 10, 54 
Bank, 10 
Bargaining, Legislative, 54 
Bart, Jean 20 
Le Blanc, 19 
Bradford, 16, 20 
Brazil, 37 
Britain, 5,14 
Britannic King, his extraordinary 

confessions, 31 

British Government, 10,52 

British Treaty, 26 

Burr, 6 

Cabinet, 9, 10, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 
23, 26, 29, 30, 34 
Cabinet endeavour to force the 

President into a war, 34 

Cabinet history, 24 

Cabinet system, 9, 22, 65 

Cabinet system nearly expires, 41 
Cabinet system revived and con- 
tinued, 42 
Cabinet system, specifications of 

the evils of 42 

Cabinet system, unconstitution- 
ality of 65 
Case of Fries, 30 
Case of the Earl of Strafford con- 
trasted with that of Fries, 30, 31 
Charles I. 30 
Cicero, 40 



Page. 

6 

37 



Clinton* 

Colombia, 

Columbia, 

Commerce, 

Commissions of investigation, 57, 58 

Commons, 61 

Concerns, subordinate, neglect 

of, 64 

Confederation, 6, 7, 39, 5$ 

Confessions, extraordinary, of the 

Britannic King, 31 

Constitution, amendment of, ne- 
cessary, 57 
Constitution, executive infraction 

of, 55 

Constitution, the first written, 14 
Construction of the office sup- 
posed to be disapproved by the 
President, 39 

Consul, 55 

Contests of the Presidency en- 
danger the Union, 60 
Contests of heads of departments 
for the succession to the Pre- 
sidency, 44 
Contrast of the cases of Fries and 

the Earl of Strafford, 30, 31 

Convention, national, 24, 25, 39 

Cornwallis, 6 

Corruption of the Legislature, 52 
Council, S9, 41 

Counsel, independent, impossi- 
ble, 65 
Dayton, 34 
Declaration of Independence, 14, 27, 

50 
Definition of intrigue, IS 

Democratic party, 11 

Departments, heads of, contest 
of, for the succession to the 
Presidency, 44 

Department of Domestic Affairs, 63 
Difficulty in selecting the succes- 
sor of a President, £5 



m 



Page. 
Disfranchisement, unjust, of the 

Metropolis, 51 

Dissentions arise from moral im- 
propriety, 13 
Dissentions in the Cabinet, 10, 12, 
13, 15,42 
Duer, 6, 7 
Election of President the sport 

of contingency, 47 

Elections, 16, 17, 28, 47, 48, 

49,51 
Ejections, sporadic, eyils of 49 

England, 61 

English liberty, 14 

Espionage, 57 

Etiquette, 59 

Europe, VT t 23, 24, 25, 27, 39, 

52,66 
Evils of election of the Presi- 
dent, by the house of repre- 
sentatives, 48 
Evils of sporadic elections, 49 
Evils of the cabinet system, 30, 37, 

42 
Exclusion of others than heads of 
departments from pretensions 
to the presidency, 45 

Executive, control over, by le- 
gislator, ' 53 
Executive influence on legislator, 53 
Executive infraction of the con- 
stitution, 4 55 
Extraordinary confessions of the 

Britannic king, 31 

Fatal unconstitutionality of the 

cabinet system, . 65 

Father of modern Republican- 
ism! 14 



Fauchet, 

Fayette, 

Federal administration. 

Federal constitution, 

Federal government, 

Federalist, 

Federalists, 



18 
66 

7 
37 
11 

6 
7,11 



j?irm practical support of the 

presidential office, 40 

First President, 5 

First written constitution, 14» 52 

Fisheries, 14 

Foreign ministers, 16,17 

Frederick the Great, 40 

France, 5, 6, 14, 24, 25, 26, 37, 

39, 50, 56, 61 
French flag, 11 

French people, giddiness of, 25 







Page.. 


French repi 


iblie, 


11,55 


French revolution, 


11,6* 


Garrison, 




17 


Gazettes, 




17 


Genet, 




14,18 


Genius, 




7, 24, 37 


Gerry, 




6, 30 



Giddiness of the French peo- 
ple, 25 
Governors, 16, 17 
Great Britain, 27, 30, 39 
Greece, 3t 
Gregorian Calendar, 18 
Grenville, 20, 2? 
Griffin, 6,8, 56 
Guatimala, 52 
Hamilton, 6, 7, 10, 15, 19, 28, 
30, 36, 37 
Hammond, 14, 20, 22 
Harmony, 8 
Heads of departments, contests of, 
fouthe succession to the pre- 
sidency, 44 
Heads of departments, exclusive 
pretensions of, to the presiden- 
cy. 45 
Holland, 22, 27 
Household establishment of the 

president, 56, 57 

House of Commons, 61 

House of representatives, evils of 

an election of president by, 48 

Icon Basilica, 30 

Illusions of Foreign Ministers, 16, 17 
Impossibility of independent coun- 
sel, 65 
Inaugural address, 14 
Incongruity of qualification to 

advise, 63 

Independent counsel impossible, 65 
Independence, declaration of 14, 

27,50 
Individual citizen accosted, 5, 8, 22, 
23, 34, 55, 57, 42 60, 66, 
Influence, executive, on legisla- 
tor, 5,3, 
Infraction of the constitution, 55 
Intercepted dispatches, 20 
Interior, department of the, 63 
Intrigue defined, IS 
Investigation, commissions of 57 
Italy, 50 
Jackson, 5,0 
Jay, (5, 7, 28, 3ft 39,40- 
Jean Bart, 2Q 



■ 



87 



Page. 
Jefferson, 6, 7, 14, 15, 25, 27, 

28,37,39,40,59 
Karnes, 61 

King of Prussia, 40 

Knox, 6, 7, 15 

King Charles I. 30, 31 

King of France, execution of the 11 
La Fayette, 66 

Lee, 6 

Legislative bargaining, 54 

Legislator attempting to controul 

the executive, 53 

Le Blanc, 19 

Legislator under executive influ- 
ence, 53 
Legislature, corruption of 52 
Legislatures, 17 
Liberty of the press, 16, 28 
Lightning, 24 
Livingston, 6 
London, 20 
Lord Grenville, 20, 22 
Lord Kames, 61 
Lord Strafford, 30, 31 
Madison, 6, 10, 37, 42, 56 
Manufactures, ^63 
Marshall, 59 
Maryland, 23 
Massachusetts, 27 
McHenry, 23 
Measures and Weights, 14 
Megalonyx, 14 
Metropolis unjustly disfranchised, 51 
Military Academy, 17 
Ministers, foreign 16, 17, 18 
Minister of foreign relations, 6, 18 
Modern republicanism, father of 14 
Monroe, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, 42, 

55,59 
Moral source of dissentions, 13 

Morris, 40 

Mount Vernon, 5,34 

National Bank, 10 

National Convention, 24, 25, 59 

Near expiration of the cabinet 

system, 41 

Necessity of amendment to the 

constitution, 57 

Neglect of subordinate concerns, 64 
New cabinet, 16, 23 

New York, 5, 6, 37, 39, 40 

JVext election, 16 

North America, 5, 27, 52, 60, 61 

Nourse, 6, 7 

Neutrals, 25 

Occasional arrogance of foreign 
ministers, 18, 21 



Page. 
Opposition, unreasonable, to an 

administration, 46 

Official patronage, perversion of AS 
Osgood, 6 

Paris, 20, 24, 25, 55 

Parties, 10, 19, 28 

Parties embittered, 12 

Patronage, official, perversion of 45 
Pennsylvania, governor of 19 

Pennsylvania insurrections, 19,29, 3d 
Pennsylvania, 55 

People, French, giddiness of 25 

Perversion of official patronage, 53 
Philadelphia, 17, 18, 19, 20, 55 

Philips, 55 

Philosopher, 

Pickering, 16, 20, 22, 23, 26, 

30, 34, 35, 40, 50 
Poland, 39 

Posts, 17 

Practical statesman, 40 

Practical support of the presiden- 
tial functions, 40 
Presidency, 9 
President, passim. 

President breaks the cabinet, 35 

President, difficult to select his 
'successor, 43 

President endeavored to be forc- 
ed into a war by the Cabinet, 34 
President, fifth, 42 

President, first, 5,12 

President, fourth, 42 

Presidential contests endanger 

the Union, 60 

Presidential etiquette, 59 

Presidential office, functions of, 

practically supported, 40 

President, second, 38 

President supposed adverse to 

the construction of the office, 39 
President, third, 37 

President, victim of the cabinet, 56 
Pretensions of others than heads 
of departments to the presiden- 
cy excluded, ' 4$ 
Prime minister, 7 
Prussia, 46 
Randolph, 7, 16, 18, 19, 21 
Reform in the election of presi- 
dent requisite, 47, 48 
Reform of the vice-presidency 

requisite, 61 

Reform necessary in presidential 

etiquette, 59 

Regal image, 30 

Remedies adverted to, *6 



8* 



Page. 
Representatives, house of, evils 

of election of president by 48 

Republicanism, modern, father of 14 
Republican party, 11 

Revival and continuance of the 

cabinet system, 
Rights of British America 
Robespierre, 
Roman government, 
Rome, 
Rush, 
Russell, 
Seat of government, 



42 
14 
25 
55 
40 
36 
50 
10, 17, 19,20 
51, 54, 55 t 56 
28 
13 



Second president, 
Secrecy the test of intrigue, 
Secretary of state looked to as 

successor of the president, 43, 44 
Secretaryship to the presidency 

wanted, 50 
Selection of a successor of a pre- 
sident difficult, 43 
Senate, 8, 15, 17, 34, 49, 51, 61, 65 
Seventy-four, 17 
Sir William Temple, 22 
Smith, 34 
South America, 24, 61 
Spain, 37 
Spanish America, 52 
Sporadic elections, evils of 49 
Statesman, 40 
Statesmen, American 25, 60 
Steam navigation, 24 
Subordinate concerns, neglect of 64 
Succession to the presidency, 12 
Succession of a president difficult 

toselect, 43 

Sydenham, 36 

Taylor, 19 

Temple, 22 

Third president 37 

Thompson, 6 



Page 
Monroe in 



Transactions of Mr. 

France, 
Treaty with Great Britain 
Triumph of the cabinet over \ke 

president, 
Tureau, 
Turgot, 

Unconstitutionality of the cabi- 
net system, 9, 22, 29, 30 t 34* 
35, 36, 37, 65 
Unconstitutionality of the house- 
hold establishment, 
Ungenerous opposition, 
Union endangered by presiden- 
tial contests, 
Unjust disfranchisement of the 

Metropolis, 
Unreasonable opposition, 
Valedictory of Washington, 
Venice, 
Vice president, 6, 9, 27, 28, 

43, 47, 48, 49, 54, 61 
Vigour of American diplomacy, 25 
Vindication of Mr. Monroe, 26 

Vindication of Mr. Randolph, 21 

Virginia, 23,28,37,39,41 

Virginians, 26 

War endeavored to be forces! on 

the president by the cabinet, 34 

Washington, 5 6. 7. 9. 10. 11. 15. 

20.21.22. 23.26.27.28. 

50. 56. 59. 65 

Washington City, 17.19.20 54. 

55.56 
Washington City, unjust disfran- 
chisement of 51 
Weights and measures, 14 
Western Territory, 27. 50 
Wclcott, 16. 20. 22. 40 61 
Written constitution, the first 14. 52 
Written .royal constitutions me- 
rit attention, 52 



24 
62 

36 
50 
61 



55 

46 

60 

51 

46 
50 
56 
40, 




fW/r 



'th Mft 



\ Mh 



■fflikwm 






iQA AAA 



IMS,?* 



' */r j 



MfiflSfe 






PSWSPMA^^p 



IM 



^ ^ n 



>.f\n,n 






s« 



» & ■ a a ^ 



m.mf\ 



f\t\ r\>.r\ 



A. .y£* 






am 



nnnn 



f^Sfwm 









KtiimM. 



Iwbi 



n 






!1MA« 



A A 1 



.AI»a£\,- 



I 






»v -• , ^ 



01 






■aaa* 1 



~*n*;-k ! ' *a*flftM22MjlI 



I 

JBRARY OF CONGRESS 



000230E2357 



mem. 









^sW 



va - 




v? ;v*t 


% % 












3 >- ' kj'^ 


,-y.v- 


i. iV'/v 


~ ^ - 




fe ^#i 


□W s v ' ;i 




yU 


F 


W 


}»PW 





iti 






WWSWeM 



\lv^, 



:*"fm 



mm 



mm 



WSM 




?S&k' 




Pv 



TOM 



